These are tiny rockets, check out the picture in the link below to get the idea on how insignificant the weight penalty really is.Singha wrote:>> We now put big retro motors, which create a thrust of four tonnes each – totally 16 tonnes of thrust – just to separate the stages so that no dead weight is passed on to the upper stage.
seems like tremendous overkill just to fire up from the top of first stage. these will be eating up weight and propellant that could otherwise make the 1st stage lighter or burn a few seconds longer. what size of rockets do the latest space faring munnas do H2, zenit and falcon use?
16ton is like a JSF engine on afterburner firing up
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