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Honda conducts successful launch and landing of experimental reusable rocket

(global.honda)
1355 points LorenDB | 2 comments | 17 Jun 25 15:02 UTC | HN request time: 0.493s | source
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whatever1 ◴[17 Jun 25 16:02 UTC] No.44300677[source]▶
Question why is it so easy today to build reusable rockets? Is it because the onboard cpu speed of the chips can solve more granular control problems with low latency?
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roshdodd ◴[17 Jun 25 16:41 UTC] No.44301068[source]▶
As someone who actively works in the field, it was a culmination of:

- Advances in rocket engine design & tech to enable deep throttling

- Control algorithms for propulsive landing maturing (Google "Lars Blackmore", "GFOLD", "Mars Landing", and work through the references)

- Forward thinking and risk-taking by SpaceX to further develop tech demonstrated by earlier efforts (DC-X, Mars Landing, etc.)

Modern simulation and sensor capabilities helped, but were not the major enabling factors.

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hinkley ◴[17 Jun 25 18:24 UTC] No.44302182[source]▶
I recall hearing SpaceX cite manufacturing improvements as well. How do you feel about materials science and the ability to source parts not made of unobtanium?
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1. floxy ◴[17 Jun 25 22:49 UTC] No.44304856[source]▶
I don't know how representative it is, but this photo seems impressive:

https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Spac...

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2. hinkley ◴[18 Jun 25 17:01 UTC] No.44311550[source]▶
With the block 3 design they have hardened all of the surfaces within the bottom skirt on the rocket so the blowback during reignition can’t melt anything. And the flanges on the turbopump exhaust exist to facilitate redesign and inspection of the system. Once they know the exact shape they need they can construct a single pipe with two flanges instead of three pipes with six. Flanges make bigger failure points than a solid pipe due to the seals.