The SpaceX Rival Hoping to Launch Fully Reusable Rockets

[@zukacs]

I just love how spacex exploded the minds of talented people and pushed the industry

[@Fizwalker]

You should look up the Delta Clipper

[@lukezhang3017]

@@Fizwalker really sad. they just didnt get the funding they needed.

[@RedRyan]

And yet no one has been able to copy them after so so long

[@zanelittlegray]

That's right, the other 99.9% of SPACEX's activity is CORNERING THE ENTIRE EARTH'S SPACE LAUNCH MARKET BWAH HAHAHAHAHA!! 😈 @TheBendablespoons

[@zanelittlegray]

Let's hope not. BTW, what are your academic credentials? Do you have something more than a bachelor's degree in a relevant subject, e.g., business, finance, economics? All I have is a bachelor's in Commerce, so I have sense enough to refrain from prognosticating on corporations' futures. But if you have some numbers to present, I'll bite. @TheBendablespoons

[@ninehundreddollarluxuryyac5958]

Stoke is no joke. They have demonstrated their aerospike design for the re-usable second stage in test hops that include landing the stage. They have done the development work for the fully reusable rocket.

[@gaius_enceladus]

Goooooo Stoke Space! Best wishes from New Zealand!

[@trajectoryventures]

Thank you, George. We are big fans of Stoke Space!

[@peterstone1972]

It has the potential to land in other planets too. This adds value to Stoke's solution as they can become a regular Earth to Moon transport in the next decade. I like the approach and wish luck to this team.

[@digitalnomad9985]

If hydrogen turns out to be more readily producible from ISRU on the Moon than methane, then the upper stage vehicle becomes a cheaper to operate small tug that can haul Moon made oxygen to LEO cheaper than any system can haul it from Earth to LEO, and a small payload from LEO to Moon on return leg. LOX is the lions share of the mass of the methalox propellant binary. A LOT fewer tanker runs for Starship if it only needs to bring the methane and not the LOX.

[@mboggs]

I wish them the best. It will be exceptionally difficult to compete with SpaceX, but maybe they will have ideas that they can patent and others can license (such as the matallic heat shield).

[@mboggs]

@TheBendablespoons Has Nasa ever blown up rockets? How about people? Spacex uses an engineering mentality called Agile which promotes fail-fast as a way of learning. They allow rockets to blow up, not people.

[@Mike-jv8bv]

that's why you never start large as one giant chunk. even when space x started their rockets where very small and many of them failed. you start small and gradually work yourway up. but never compete directly head on since you wouldn't have anywhere near the logistical capability that space x does. , try to fulfill a market gap which is what they are trying to do here.

[@khel9505]

​@TheBendablespoons😂 such a loser a only company that can land a rocket all the time🤣

[@Ronolein]

ich drücke alle Daumen die ich habe! ;-)

[@clarencehopkins7832]

Excellent stuff bro, get er done

[@lavkmr1]

These rivals keep popping George 😅

[@digitalnomad9985]

That's what startups do. But all the alpha players were once startups. What part of gambling do you not understand?

[@Selfexplantors]

space travel will change everything i hope to get to that someday think about never having to turn back

[@clarencehopkins7832]

Excellent stuff bro, I’m in

[@pedrrofuret1909]

60 years and we still playing with rocket`s. yupiiii!!!

[@itsjustpersonalizedviews]

nice video btw

[@EveryoneWhoUsesThisTV]

Stoke should launch their upper stage on a Falcon 9 for testing, that way they can show investors they have a working reuseable upper stage (no other company has) and get more capital! :) They can play catch-up on the reuseable orbital booster tech, that's been done before. Their upper stage is where the major innovations are, show investors that a heatshield powered expander bleed cycle aerospike can work and they'll be all set! $$$

[@ifalk325]

Unfortunately it would be really challenging to launch the second stage on falcon 9. Besides the Stoke second stage using a different fuel than falcon 9, both companies would have to design a mating system between the two rockets to connect them. I think Lapsa was asked about doing something like you said and he believed it would be more beneficial to just go ahead with their own first stage.

[@EveryoneWhoUsesThisTV]

@@ifalk325 A mating adaptor would be a one-day welding job, but you're right about the fuel issues, the lack of liquid hydrogen at SpaceX facilities would be the biggest hurdle. A mobile fuelling system would be a huge benefit for the little Stoke rocket, which could be launched from a variety of locations if desired. So, I think it remains a faster way to get a surge in capital for the company. :)

[@deeptoot1453]

What do you mean?? Literally both SpaceX and Blue have a reusable second stage.

[@EveryoneWhoUsesThisTV]

@@deeptoot1453 A capsule isn't the second stage, it's the payload. :) Falcon 9/Dragon uses an expendable second stage with one Merlin engine. New Shepard doesn't have a second stage. No company has a reuseable second stage because vacuum nozzles are very big and difficult to re-enter effectively - Stoke could be the first with their plug engine style design. Stoke and SpaceX are the only companies really prototyping reuseable second stages.....

[@0x5DA]

@@EveryoneWhoUsesThisTV nb. BO is _prototyping_ a reusable second stage, but they are neither committed to it, nor producing it. it's codenamed "project jarvis". it's been rumoured for a while and tim dodd's latest interview shed a little more light on the design process.

[@dphuntsman]

Good report- and good that you give visibility to a small, innovative company like Stokes. In terms of market….keep in mind, SpaceX jumping from Falcon 9/Falcon Heavy way up to Starship isn’t necessarily covering all the potential markets at all. If Stokes succeeds in getting their fully-reusable 2 stage working- but at a much smaller scale than Starship- there’s no question in my mind that they can find a niche. Particularly since most other players are simply not emphasizing the full and rapid reusability aspect. Only RocketLab is working that, but at not a faster pace than Stokes is- and they don’t launch from the Cape (which can make a difference). - Dave Huntsman

[@donscheid97]

Elon encourages and wants competition to advance the industry with different ideas. Focus and get really good at one or two things before branching out, you can partner with a company specializing in something else instead of trying to develop a whole program by yourself. Bezos is a good businessman but not savvy with engineering stuff and is doing it more for his competitive pride than real market investment. The other companies like this one are reaching for lower niche goals because they are not as well funded, I wish them luck.

[@dacnguyen1499]

I'm had great experience Invention Ideas Technology Technical Development Aerospace Engineering Skills

[@tobiasreichelt888]

I don't quite understand why companies like stokes don't focus on their main selling point which is the metal heat shield. Wouldn't that save them a lot of money?

[@macjim]

I have to admit when I saw the prototype doing its ‘hop’, I thought it was a joke… I know different now.

[@StillAliveAndKicking_]

It’s innovative and I hope it works. But why not have a bolt on heat shield with ceramic thermal tiles, or an ablative layer? After use, throw it away, and bolt on a new guaranteed to work heat shield. Then work on making that component as cheap as possible. After all, the Stoke method requires use of extra fuel, which must weigh a fair bit, along with the supporting pipework.

[@davidk1308]

It's not that simple. A heatshield would also weigh a lot, with the supporting structure, and need extra fuel to be carried to space and back. Maybe it weighs marginally less, but they want the whole system to be fully reusable, and not to throw anything away. So the benefits likely outweigh the drawbacks. SpaceX is attempting to work with thermal tiles for now, and might figure out a way to make it work with minimal maintenance, but it may also be a short term solution, and they'll look into transpirational cooling again in the future (bleeding fuel where the heatshield sits to wick heat away). Their metallic heatshield synergizes with their expander cycle engine too, and works a lot like regenerative cooling in rocket nozzles (which can reach higher temperatures than reentry). As the fuel heats up when it enters the atmosphere, it spins up the turbopumps for the engines when it's ready to land. Plus, using their cluster of engines, they can create an aerospike effect, shaped by the heatshield.

[@StillAliveAndKicking_]

@@davidk1308 I doubt you’ve done the weight calculations. Neither have I of course. Starship could not use evaporative cooling without adding a lot of piping, and crygenic liquid, presumably oxygen. It has a very large surface area, which is not good. Good luck to Stoke Space, it’ll be good if it works. Even if they fail, they will have explored that option. SpaceX has a history of trying, and succeeding one way or another.

[@0x5DA]

the piping isn't really an issue, since you can make the heateshield walls the pipes. this is how a lot of regeneratively cooled engine nozzles are designed afaik.

[@We-Do-NOT-Consent-303]

We want to know who is funding these companies!!!

[@digitalnomad9985]

They are and should be under no obligation to tell you, and who do you mean by we?

[@We-Do-NOT-Consent-303]

@@digitalnomad9985 ​@digitalnomad9985 Yes they are obligated to tell us who is funding these companies and what are they doing in space. Because "We The People" of Earth do NOT consent to any nefarious projects that endanger life on planet Earth and Humanity at large. We own this planet and all the resources in it. So they have to ask us for permission.

[@SatelliteGalaxy]

He said they received $100 million in funding. Funding from who?

[@RobertKelly-it8wm]

Cor❤😂🎉😊 mum can I have a socket for xmas😊

[@United_Wings]

Oh

[@Juan.Pablo83]

Relativity Space has 'em beat. And they're in the old C-17 complex. 😘

[@mariusvanderleek471]

Not very original but Musk said previously that he welcomes competition. But I've yet to see talkers turning into walkers. Time will tell.

[@RobertKelly-it8wm]

Elon musk, presumably, has x factor, he shoots pallets😊of dollars, onto space, watched❤all the money flutter to earth, and we all catch it, nip to Asda and buy a currir😊❤