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aquarain t1_j5w1mm7 wrote

It has been exciting and frustrating watching this develop. They flew a very rough prototype of the upper stage to 150 meters and landed it back in 2019. On 5 May 2021 they flew a prototype of the upper stage that looked very similar to the latest model to 10km and landed it. But no flights since.

The lower stage is an absolute beast of a rocket in every way. 33 engines totalling 17,000,000 lbf of thrust. As wide as a school bus is long. As tall as a 20 story building by itself, and the second stage sits on top of that.

Can't wait to see it fly. Wish I could be there to feel the Earth tremble. Maybe some day.

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DBDude t1_j5yxmvr wrote

The days of it being okay to blow stuff up are now over for Starship. A full stack blow up would damage that very expensive launch tower, so they now have to tread carefully.

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