[−]cucumber3732842 · 2026-11-15 Sun 00:26 UTC ·
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I don't think it makes sense to make starship human rated. They'd likely give up too much. Probably better to have a different cheaper rocket for the people.
Like you don't build a barge to ferry standards, it would defeat the point of the barge.
Maybe you're right--I don't know. But large freight airplanes are the same as large passenger airplanes, except for the seats, etc. I think the same might be true for Starship.
[−]kevin_thibedeau · 2026-11-15 Sun 03:14 UTC ·
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Freight airplanes have additional reinforcement to increase max takeoff weight and manage uneven floor loading.
Starship is a lot cheaper than it looks, because they're mass manufacturing the engines. They're targeting $250k per Raptor 3. The RS-25 used on NASA's SLS/Space Shuttle costs about $100M to make currently, comparable thrust.
Like you don't build a barge to ferry standards, it would defeat the point of the barge.