What kind of inspiration can the "starship" blown up by Musk's first flight give us?

In the last two days, the author was busy with the work related to the Shanghai Auto Show ... Suddenly, the circle of friends "exploded". Some people only send food and drink on weekdays and inquire about the "meat prices" all day, but suddenly they become space fans and start cheering for the "Star Ship".

Space Exploration Technology Company released the concept map of "Starship" rushing into the atmosphere of Mars in September 20 19.

Did the launch succeed? But I still remember that Musk himself said that the probability of success is not great. So with doubts, despite heavy debts, I still clicked on the news-

The failure of the maiden voyage was actually an "explosion" in the middle of the rocket.

However, this did not stop many people from cheering and boiling. Even elon musk himself was prepared for failure early in the morning, and even repeatedly warned everyone that the possibility of success was very low. "As long as it doesn't explode on the launch pad, it's a success", but he said it himself.

However, the fact is that although the launch pad did not explode, the destruction effect is no different from that of the explosion. ...

In fact, the engineers of Space Exploration Technology Company and elon musk are fully aware of the current shortcomings of the starship project. After all, there is still serious uncertainty whether the engine array with up to 33 engines in the next stage can ignite at the same time as the take-off ignition command is issued. So far, until the third ground static ignition test in February this year 10, there were still serious problems (two engines were not ignited). Moreover, in the first shooting mission that failed on the 20th, similar problems became more serious.

Only 60 seconds after ignition, as many as 5 engines were turned off, and 6 engines were turned off later. ...

However, after all, this is an unprecedented "all-people participation" space project in human history.

Since the establishment of Starship, space exploration technology companies have played it almost transparently, showing all the details that can be announced to the public, thus attracting hundreds of millions of fans from all over the world to "summon" it. Since the appetite of fans has been caught to this extent, the launch has become a "just need" for Musk and even space exploration technology companies.

Even if there is a $3 billion fireworks display, do you still have to play?

Reasonable, this cutting-edge project, of course, should be supported. But what is the truth of this "bombing win-win"? This is almost an absurd picture comparable to "my colleague went and I went" in recent years.

Regarding the details of the process and failure of the starship's first flight, various official WeChat accounts have spread all over Jane's network in the past two days, so I won't go into details here.

"I told you it wasn't that easy."

So today, three days after the "big news", I have to talk about the "Starship" project at the request of some readers.

Of course, many media and WeChat official accounts explained the details of the first shot in detail. So we only say the "big" part.

What is the picture of Starship?

The first thing to make sure is that the narrow sense of "starship" is only the part with unique shape in the spacecraft. The "starship" and the propeller part below are called starship rockets here.

Evolution of starship scheme since 20 16

The next stage of the whole rocket, which space exploration technology company calls "super heavy" booster, consists of 33 Raptor 2 liquid oxygen methane engines. The whole engine is arranged in the form of inner and outer rings, 20 outer rings are fixed, and 13 inner rings are installed on the "Raptor 2" of the universal joint, which can swing at any angle, with a maximum of 15 degrees.

On the other hand, the upper part of the starship is equipped with three vacuum Raptor engines specially designed to optimize the vacuum specific impulse performance, and three Raptor 2 engines with the same configuration as the "super heavy". The latter is also installed on the universal joint, and the maximum swing is 15 degrees.

"Overweight" rear engine array, and the interior 13 is placed on the deflectable universal joint.

In contrast, the "Merlin" engine, Falcon 9 owned by Space Exploration Technology Company, has only a 5-degree swing angle. The RS-25 engine of a space shuttle that can land like a fixed-wing aircraft can only swing 12.5 degrees. Therefore, theoretically, the two components of the starship rocket can maneuver thousands of kilometers in the atmosphere with the remaining fuel after completing the launch mission, and return to the launch site or choose another suitable place to land.

On the issue of vertical landing, it is a significant advantage over Falcon 9 and Heavy Falcon. This means that the starship can choose the landing site relatively calmly.

In terms of power system, Raptor 2 and Vacuum Raptor with good thrust/specific impulse data have two main advantages:

First of all, although the cost of methane fuel is slightly higher than that of special kerosene-the latter can only be manufactured by coal liquefaction process like China without super-high quality oil fields like the Soviet Union, so that the composition can be accurately controlled (see who dares to "rocket burn coal" again)-it is not easy to coke, and the probability of accidents is even smaller.

Secondly, because the Raptor series engines use methane with liquid temperature of-16 1.5℃ as fuel, the liquid storage temperature of oxidizer liquid oxygen is-183℃. The temperature difference between them is much smaller than that of liquid hydrogen (-252.8℃) and liquid oxygen, and the thermal insulation measures of low-temperature fuel-oxidizer tank are also relatively simple.

Fans drew a side-by-side comparison picture of the starship rocket and Saturn V, which was once the largest rocket in the United States.

In addition, the American standard 304 stainless steel used in starship rockets, that is, the "food-grade" stainless steel material used in general vacuum cups and stainless steel cooking pots, is actually a very cheap metal material, and the market price during this period is only 3,800 yuan per ton, equivalent to one kilogram of 3.8 yuan. However, aviation-grade carbon fibers, such as the famous T800HB, are still ordered in large quantities by Toray Japan, reaching 2000 yuan per kilogram.

The superposition of the above means that the essence of the starship plan is to explore how to build a super-large spacecraft at the lowest possible cost by using materials and processes below the traditional "space-class" specifications, and at the same time, make this equipment at least as reusable as Falcon 9.

Starting to use conventional materials means that costs begin to become "normal"

The ultimate goal is that "Starship" and "Super Heavy" can pass a simple test after each landing after completing a mission, and return to the launcher again in a few months or even weeks, install it in place and refuel for the next mission.

The dawn of a new era in aerospace

Although the cost and demand are considered to the maximum extent, due to its huge size, even if the starship rocket is successfully launched and fully achieves the original goal, there are still some insurmountable restrictions.

"Ultra-heavy" needs to test the structure and test the engines one by one. "Starship" must check and repair the heat insulation tile. As a super-heavy space launch platform with a take-off mass of 5,000 tons, it is doomed to be unable to put into the next mission immediately after completing one mission just by simple testing and refueling, just like a civil airliner. This requires a platform with another way of thinking, such as the Yun Teng project being promoted by China Aerospace Science and Industry Group, which adopts the mode of combined power suborbital vehicle and on-orbit spacecraft.

The essence of starship rocket is to enlarge the volume of rocket and try to approach the limit of current technology. At the same time, lower the high standard of the original space program and test the margin of its acceptable "lower limit" ...

Once successful, a real space launch platform will be born, which can perform space missions like a passenger plane and take off directly from the airport. However, such an aerospace aircraft system cannot be much larger than the existing aircraft in scale. The characteristics of horizontal takeoff and low maintenance requirements also determine that its payload ratio cannot be compared with that of large starships.

The 5000-ton starship claims to have a maximum low-earth orbit carrying capacity of 300 tons, with a payload ratio of 6%; In the recoverable mode, the maximum carrying mass of near-earth orbit is 150 tons, and the payload ratio is 3%. The final result of the Yun Teng project is that the total mass can hardly exceed 300 tons, and the payload will not exceed 1.7%, that is, it will not exceed 5 tons.

At this stage, the two main routes of the future spacecraft have begun to take shape. The starship rocket failed only once, but it still inspired countless people to fly for the first time. The Yun Teng project successfully made its first flight on August 26th last year.

According to CCTV's report on August 26th, 2022, this lift-type suborbital launch vehicle developed by China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology took off vertically at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center that day, completed suborbital flight according to the set procedures, and landed smoothly and horizontally at Alashan Youqi Airport, successfully realizing the first flight test of China's suborbital launch vehicle.

The specific situation of Yun Teng project is unknown, and the whole picture can only be inferred through several published models.

This seems to be another round of "two flowers bloom, one for each table". However, children can do multiple-choice questions, and adults' goal is to "have it all".

For more than a decade, the demonstration of China's rocket plan to land on the moon, namely "Long March 9", is gradually moving towards the final stage. According to the models currently exported and displayed in various exhibitions, the final configuration will be a three-stage series of "polished rods" similar to starship rockets, with a total mass of 3930 tons, and the total height after filling will exceed 100 meters.

After many revisions, the scheme of the Long March 9 rocket was finally determined as a "polished rod" type.

Musk painted cakes for starship rockets, which cost only100000 dollars for a single launch. In the long run, the price can be reduced to 2 million dollars. In fact, compared with SLS, which costs $2.2 billion for a single engine, even if a starship can send a load of 1.50 tons into low-earth orbit with one arrow in the medium and long term, the asking price is only 1. 1 billion dollars, which is enough to change the present situation of the existing aerospace industry.

Although China Aerospace does not have the problem of high collusion cost between officials and businessmen like the United States, "cheap and easy to use" is of the same significance to us.

June 5438+February last year, Space Exploration Technology Company officially released the satellite Internet constellation project named "Starshield". Tearing apart all the packaging and commercial function words can be simply understood as a purely military version of the "Starlink" constellation.

At this stage, the military strength of the United States has been deeply dependent on the American skyline facilities system. Whether it is a sensor deployed in orbit, a node for data relay, or a functional satellite system that performs a specific task.

Publicity map of "Star Shield" project of Space Exploration Technology Company

Because of its deep dependence, it is very fragile, especially today when its "great power competition" rivals have mastered reliable, cheap and effective anti-satellite technology. The essence of "Star Shield" project is to realize the distributed deployment of military spacecraft in orbit. If a powerful electronic reconnaissance satellite with a weight of 10 ton is vulnerable to the attack of helicopter anti-satellite missiles, how about a constellation of 20 electronic reconnaissance satellites with a weight of 0.5 ton each?

What's more, the second-generation MINI star of "Star Chain" launched not long ago has reached 790kg in weight. "Star Chain" 2.0 claims that the limit can reach 2 tons. The increase of platforms also means the qualitative change of equipment and functions.

790kg "Star Chain" version 2.0 Mini Star

The 0.9 version of the 227kg "Star Chain" satellite can only be regarded as a general space router at best. However, the 2-ton "Star Chain" 2.0 can be equipped with various loads as needed. In addition to providing data relay function, it can also be transformed into electronic reconnaissance satellites, optical reconnaissance satellites, infrared early warning satellites and even attack satellites loaded with weapons. Moreover, the huge load of the "Starship", thousands of satellites mixed together, the opponent can not effectively monitor and destroy.

Only "magic" can defeat "magic". The real next-generation space race has begun. While affirming that space exploration technology company has taken this step, we should be soberly aware that behind this enterprise that has obtained key technologies from NASA and even the US military, the figure of the US national machine is faintly visible.

Of course, these ideas have nothing to do with many people who participated in the Starship Carnival. For this group of people, holding Musk while stepping on "your country" seems to have become a subconscious behavior, or it may be their need to maintain a mental state.

For such a group, the author also borrowed "magic" here-

Does the grand narrative of American capitalism really have something to do with you, a nuisance in Genshin Impact? To tell the truth, instead of creating data garbage on Jane's internet, it is better to go online as soon as possible.

This article comes from the author's automobile commune, and the copyright belongs to the author. Please contact the author for any form of reprint. The content only represents the author's point of view and has nothing to do with the car reform.