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drawkbox t1_j7uehzp wrote

Reply to comment by TheAssholeofThanos in SpaceX prepares for a massive test this week: Firing all 33 Starship engines at once by upyoars

Indeed there has been lots of progress since. It just seems needlessly complex, so many potential failures from all the valves/seals/connections/feeds/controllers/bonds etc. All the complexity of one engine, times thirty three.

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Bensemus t1_j7we29w wrote

They need multiple engines for landing. An empty Falcon 9 is already too light to hover or descend on a single Merlin engine at minimum throttle.

Both Starship and SuperHeavy can hover and descend with multiple Raptor engines firing. This gives them engine out capability while landing and a much safer landing profile. There's no need to perform a suicide burn where you only have a brief moment to get it right or you are crashing.

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