To be fair, the whole Artemis program was a bit of a dumpster fire. Needlessly complex architecture when we could have just yeeted like three or four pieces into space with Falcon Heavy, assembled in orbit, and then landed/returned with a traditional lunar landing vehicle.
So I’ve heard, but I think I heard recently that NASA had made a lot of headway getting to program on track, and it was supposed to have a heavier payload than even starship by a good margin. It’s basically a modern Saturn V program. Idk, I’m skeptical that it was dumpstered based on evidence and that this wasn’t just a handy premise for setting up more gibs for Elon.
That’s what I was thinking as well. As flaky as private companies can be, we could well end up right back at no heavy lifters if Elon wakes up one day and just decides “eh, fuck it”
To be fair, the whole Artemis program was a bit of a dumpster fire. Needlessly complex architecture when we could have just yeeted like three or four pieces into space with Falcon Heavy, assembled in orbit, and then landed/returned with a traditional lunar landing vehicle.
So I’ve heard, but I think I heard recently that NASA had made a lot of headway getting to program on track, and it was supposed to have a heavier payload than even starship by a good margin. It’s basically a modern Saturn V program. Idk, I’m skeptical that it was dumpstered based on evidence and that this wasn’t just a handy premise for setting up more gibs for Elon.
Oh for sure, SLS is the heaviest lift rocket in the world by a large margin right now. It just can’t launch frequently or cheaply.
Cancelling it while Starship is still so flaky is a bad move IMO.
That’s what I was thinking as well. As flaky as private companies can be, we could well end up right back at no heavy lifters if Elon wakes up one day and just decides “eh, fuck it”