Questions tagged [launch-vehicle]

Questions about a craft used to propel payloads into space, usually a rocket-powered vehicle

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During Starship's recent flight, the stack appeared to be venting gas during the staging sequence. What was it?

During Starship's launch on November 18, 2023, the two stages successfully executed hot staging and separated from each other. In the seconds leading up to ignition of the upper stage engines, the ...
John McCarthy's user avatar
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1 answer
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how to procure a Launch vehicle for injecting a cubesat into LEO at LOW COST?

Me and my team are working on sending Cubesats just beyond the Karmann line. For which we obviously need a launch vehicle and would like to procure one or if possible build one. If any aerospace ...
Souvik Banerjee's user avatar
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1 answer
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Combustion stability for the second stage of Sea Dragon

I was listening to a video about SHLV's (Super Heavy Launch Vehicles), and Sea Dragon's first stage engine was mentioned. In terms of combustions stability, the suggested fix would be large combustion ...
Anti Elon Guy's user avatar
13 votes
2 answers
348 views

Unknown spacecraft reference. "Wang's vehicle"

I've got a mystery for you today: In Dan Sharp's book, "British Secret Projects - 5 - Britain's Space Shuttle" ISBN:,9781910809020 MUSTARD (Multi Unit Space Transport And Reuse Device) is ...
Anti Elon Guy's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
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Energy Needed for Lunar Lander to Ascend?

Is it possible to calculate how much energy was expended when the Apollo 11 lunar lander ascended from the Moon's surface to join the Command Module in lunar orbit? Many relevant parameters for the ...
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Accidents where discarded stages are propelled by vaporized propellant?

Falcon 1 flight 3 failed when propellant vaporized in the detached first stage's engine, causing it to slam into the second stage. Has this happened to any other launch vehicle? Do launch vehicles ...
Abdullah's user avatar
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How far did the MUSTARD project get?

http://www.astronautix.com/m/mustard.html As described above, MUSTARD was a BAC project to develop a fully reusable VTO/HL shuttle to transport crew and payload to earth orbit. There were many ...
Anti Elon Guy's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
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ARCA Aerospace has announced the EcoRocket Heavy, a wider-than-tall rocket. Has there ever been any other seriously proposed rockets wider than tall?

Is this the first seriously proposed/planned launch vehicle that is wider than it is tall? https://www.arcaspace.com/ecorocket
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Anti-Geyser Test Full Scale

I am working on the thesis about Geysering and Recirculation in Launch Vehicles. And I am having some diffucilties to understand that "do we need to use full-scale model to test geysering?". ...
srule's user avatar
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Does a fully loaded Starship really have a thrust to weight ratio less than 1 at sea level?

If Superheavy fails during launch (or even fails to launch in an unsafe way) the Starship itself might well be able to just light its engines and fly a suitable suborbital trajectory https://space....
Abdullah's user avatar
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Why wasn't Buran mounted on top of Energia?

Since unlike the Shuttle, the Buran did not carry the main engines, why was it not mounted on top of the external tank equivalent - Energia's core stage? And even better, why wasn't Energia's second ...
Abdullah's user avatar
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Why didn't SpaceX scrub the 4/20 Starship launch when they saw the launch pad being shredded?

While Starship took to the skies on its maiden flight, the slow build of power started to devastate the launch pad (or Stage Zero as SpaceX refers to it) and surrounding area with debris. Though ...
Abdullah's user avatar
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Why was the launchpad not destroyed during Super Heavy test firings?

It's becoming clear now that the 4/20 launch devastated the launchpad, leaving a massive crater and flinging debris - perhaps into the booster itself. But why did this not happen during test firings ...
Abdullah's user avatar
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8 votes
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How will Starship get ullage during launch?

All the Starship air-starts up to this point have been landing burns using small header tanks which gave less ullage requirements, but I can't recall any mention of how Starship settle it's propellant ...
Abdullah's user avatar
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What if satellites could be recovered during a launch failure? [duplicate]

How heavy would a capsule have to be to return a satellite safely to earth in the event of a launch failure? Would a satellite survive the loads endured by astronauts during an abort? If not, is there ...
Abdullah's user avatar
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Why did the Virgin One launch fail?

What caused the early shutdown of Virgin rocket's upper stage? The previous failure was also due to early shutdown of engine, although that was first stage failure. As per reports available in public, ...
Shubham Srivastava's user avatar
2 votes
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HTOL vs VTOL first stages

For a generic launch vehicle, would Horizontal Take off be better than VTOL like most orbital launch vehicles?
Anti Elon Guy's user avatar
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Is there a system for determining the class of a rocket?

I'm not so sure on the specs. So, I'll just look up my handy spacey rocket class chart, oh, I don't have one. The system should class rockets into these classes: light, medium, and heavy. The real ...
user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
74 views

What are the differences between Skyroot Aerospace's Vikram-S and Vikram-1?

Skyroot Aerospace (an Indian aerospace startup ) is ready to launch its first launch vehicle Vikram-S, which is the suborbital version of Vikram-1. What are the differences in flight hardware between ...
Ashvin's user avatar
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Where do the separated stages of ISRO Launch Vehicle Mark 3 (LVM3) end up?

ISRO Launch Vehicle Mark 3 (LVM3) is a three stage launch vehicle: First stage – S200 Boosters Second stage – L110 Third stage – C25 Where do each of these stages end up after a launch?
Ritesh Singh's user avatar
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3 answers
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Is a low-energy cruise an option for manned lunar flights?

Some lunar probes such as GRAIL travelled on a different trajectory to the Moon that went even much farther than the Moon itself is from Earth, to a Langrangian point, so why isn't this option ever ...
Nullnummer's user avatar
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Why weren't super heavy lift launch vehicles used for deep space missions?

According to this PDF Cassini-HuygensPDF, we would need to launch 70 tons if we wanted to do a Saturn transfer orbit from a low earth orbit. It says that there are no vehicles in NASA’s stable even ...
A. N Asker's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
304 views

Is Blue Origin redundant?

Blue Origin was founded in 2000, SpaceX in 2002. But so far, Blue Origin has only conducted Sub-orbital launches while SpaceX has launched high profile missions like DART. Can Blue Origin actually do ...
A. N Asker's user avatar
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do launch vehicles fly at negative angle of attacks after pitch over maneuver?

At early seconds of flight, launch vehicle goes up vertically. at the beginning of pitch over, it has vertical velocity and simultaneously pitching which makes the wind to flow from upward direction. ...
جامکلو حسن's user avatar
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Selection of booster for Mercury capsule

How did NASA verify that "Redstone (PGM 11?) was the most suitable rocket to launch Mercury capsule (1st launch)? From books like "Project Mercury - a chronology", and "This new ...
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Is there any major difference between acceleration of solid propelled and liquid propelled rockets during launch

Few days ago, ISRO launched its PSLV-C53, which had solid first stage. (Clip here) Also, the SpaceX's starlink launched on 24th July, 2022, having liquid first stage. (Clip here) Is there any major ...
Priyansu Tank's user avatar
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1 answer
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Are there payloads that went to orbit without a protective fairing?

Reading about the Ultralight Starshade Structural Design, It seems some solution among others could be an umbrella based concept Since the starshade has to be roughly 100m in diameter, one could ...
jkztd's user avatar
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Why did the Hyperbola-1 launch fail in February 2021?

There is no launch video and very little data published about the launch. Considering how the maiden flight was successful, and it does appear that they made any design changes, what went wrong? Why ...
Starship - On Strike's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
138 views

Insights about launch vehicle engine configuration

When dealing with launch vehicles (specifically heavy lifters), there have been a number of different mindsets in terms of engines. The Saturn V used some absolutely massive engines, which was great ...
frank's user avatar
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For launch vehicles, during atmospheric stages, are there constraints on the yaw angle?

Most of the literature discusses the pitch angle and constraints on it, namely, trying to keep it zero for load relief. This leads to the gravity turn. I understand that ideal trajectories are within ...
SpacePotato's user avatar
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Atlas V booster appearance change in flight

In the livestream of the latest Atlas V 541 flight launching the GOES-T satelite I saw that the nosecones of the two visible boosters changed the appearance within a few seconds in the flight. Is this ...
Spaceman-21's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
760 views

European orbital rocket companies?

Besides the obvious Arianespace (France) with Ariane 5/6 Avio (Italy) with Vega/Vega C I found a few other new companies that haven't launched yet (to my knowledge), such as RFA (Germany) Isar ...
Bojan Kogoj's user avatar
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0 answers
76 views

Cost breakdown of launch companies

One thing which I recently heard Peter Beck say in an interview with Tim Dodd was that the cost of running a launch company isn't primarily driven by the rocket itself, but the operations required to ...
hopper19's user avatar
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Is the SS-520-5 both a floor wax and a desert topping? Can it be considered both a sounding rocket and an orbital vehicle?

The answer to If there "won't be" rockets to launch individual cubesats, then why did JAXA build exactly that? (SS-520-xx) begins The SS-520-5 launcher is not intended to be an ...
uhoh's user avatar
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5 votes
1 answer
561 views

What is this black smoke coming from an all solid fueled Epsilon rocket?

I saw a clip of a recent (Nov. 5th, 2021) JAXA Epsilon launch on Instagram (link). Shown differently here in a YouTube video @~0:23s: It's an entirely solid fueled ...
BrendanLuke15's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
475 views

Material used in LOX propellant tank

Most launch vehicles use aluminum alloy AA2219 for LOX propellant tanks, has anyone used AA6061 with additional coating instead?
suzi Venus's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
167 views

Evolution of Saturn V for JFK's Man on Moon mission

While reading about history of Saturn family of rockets, I read that all the Saturn rockets were initially designed to meet defense requirements for heavy lift vehicles. I was reading a NASA ...
Niranjan's user avatar
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3 votes
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84 views

How is a launch vehicle aligned to the hold down post when assembled and rolled out horizontally?

Launch vehicles like Falcon are rolled out in horizontal position, joined to hold down post and raised by the strongback. How are the misalignments between launch vehicle and hold down pins overcome? ...
suzi Venus's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
148 views

What is that yellow fixture that the launch vehicle is resting on?

What is that fixture called as? I think it is used to support the launch vehicle during integration. Please correct if wrong. source - https://www.ruaviation.com/news/2019/3/12/13107/?h here's ...
suzi Venus's user avatar
9 votes
1 answer
212 views

Why did Black Arrow have a tail skirt?

Next week marks the 50th anniversary of the UK's one and only satellite launch on one of her own rockets - Prospero, aboard the Black Arrow. In-flight photos of the Black Arrow look odd because there ...
GordonD's user avatar
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7 votes
2 answers
138 views

KARI's homegrown KSLV-II almost hit the target orbit on its very first launch. How many OLVs can boast success on the first flight attempt?

Outdated: KSLV-II is a homegrown South Korean orbital launch vehicle. While KARI's launched the Russian-derived KSLV-I before, KSLV-II (or Nuri) uses only new, domestic, hitherto un-flight-tested ...
Anton Hengst's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
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Which pipeline is this, found outside the launch vehicle?

which pipeline is this found on the electron launch vehicle?
suzi Venus's user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
514 views

Why were American Apollo-era launch towers red, and why was the reused elements of the Shuttle-era FSS painted over in grey?

This image of STS-8 shows red peeking through the grey of the launch structure. That got me thinking... Mercury-Atlas launch towers were red (although Mercury-Redstone's towers were yellow, I think) ...
Anton Hengst's user avatar
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Does electric fuel pumping scale well for rockets?

The Electron launch vehicle first stage has nine Rutherford engines In addition to adapting the single-engine-out-friendly nine engine configuration from the Falcon-9, the rocket carries a significant ...
uhoh's user avatar
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1 vote
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Launch excapse system for satellite payloads? [duplicate]

Once a rocket lifts off, there is usually no abort mode that does not involve the destruction of the rocket, and on a satellite launch, the payload. Therefore, expendeble satellite launchers are quite ...
Abdullah's user avatar
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7 votes
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Are launch vehicles or payloads transported through the Suez canal very often? Ever?

There are some comments under How do SpaceX intend to transport their starship/super heavy? referencing rockets in tight places including whatever you do, don't send it thru the Suez Canal :-) ...
uhoh's user avatar
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14 votes
1 answer
3k views

Why can solid rockets be both the skinniest and most spherical launch vehicles while liquid fuel rockets have a more limited range of aspect ratios?

Question: Why can solid rockets be both the skinniest and most spherical launch vehicles while liquid fuel rockets have a more limited range of aspect ratios? Are there fundamental engineering ...
uhoh's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
407 views

Most noodle-like (highest aspect ratio) orbital launch vehicle ever?

Just how much can tall skinny rockets bend? (roughly, safely) Why is Falcon 9's shape so tall and skinny? If not constrained by underpasses, etc., would Falcon 9 have been less of a flying noodle? ...
uhoh's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
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Multistaging and its issues [duplicate]

Multistage rockets have the benefits of trimming dead weight and using different engines for different heights. But do they have some momentum gain benefits too? For instance, during their detachment, ...
cntcod3's user avatar
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What is the safety record of launch vehicles per person-distance traveled, over all time?

Sometimes, the safety of various forms of transportation are compared based on the rate of fatalities (or injuries or other unplanned destructive accidents) per person-mile or person-kilometer ...
WBT's user avatar
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