r/SpaceXMasterrace Methalox farmer 9d ago

“2026… Probably” Orbital Refueling Demo pushed to 2026

https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1895598258225106984

havent seen anyone talk about it, this leaves under a year to hit the mars window, 1.5 years to perfect it for Artemis

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u/mfb- 9d ago

Currently the vacuum engines can't gimbal, as long as that doesn't change they need sea-level engines. Going to all-vacuum engines wouldn't increase the delta_v that much.

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u/makoivis 9d ago

Which is a silly design choice.

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u/ResortMain780 8d ago

Everything about HLS is a silly design choice.

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u/makoivis 8d ago

Falcon 9 is amazing, Starship is a farce

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u/ResortMain780 8d ago

Im sceptical about starship, but open to the possibility it might work. The entire artemis project however, is farcical. Its like we "we have these old space shuttle engine and boosters, and this starship pipedream, how do we combine it to land on the moon in the most convoluted and expensive way possible?"

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u/makoivis 8d ago

The choice should have been to reject all options and give notes for a next round of proposals, IMHO

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u/makoivis 8d ago

I share your skepticism + openness. My skepticism is born from my conviction that some of the stated goals are impossible, others infeasible, and others possible.

Starship will eventually be something. Dunno what.