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217 points belter | 3 comments | | HN request time: 0.77s | source
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sidcool ◴[] No.41838932[source]
Are the side boosters going to be recovered?
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benjismith ◴[] No.41838957[source]
Nope. They needed the maximum amount of thrust from those boosters in order to propel the spacecraft toward Jupiter, so they couldn't save enough fuel for the boosters to land themselves. This was the 6th flight of these boosters, so we thank them for their service!
replies(1): >>41839149 #
linotype ◴[] No.41839149[source]
Is this one of those things that’s limited by physics or at some point will these kinds of missions be doable with a mostly reusable setup?
replies(8): >>41839217 #>>41839224 #>>41839321 #>>41839349 #>>41839410 #>>41839427 #>>41840442 #>>41852102 #
1. alfiopuglisi ◴[] No.41839224[source]
It's a limitation of the Falcon Heavy, the launcher used this time. A future, more powerful one could do it while being reusable.
replies(1): >>41839336 #
2. tsimionescu ◴[] No.41839336[source]
Sure, a bigger rocket could carry this particular payload while being reusable. But for any rocket there will always be payloads it can't carry while also having enough fuel to land.
replies(1): >>41839500 #
3. dotnet00 ◴[] No.41839500[source]
That constraint can be significantly mitigated by in-space refueling. Then it just becomes a matter of what the rocket can lift into a stable orbit.

Edit: Not that this applies to any currently operational rockets.