How would you guys feel if it was two stage and not three?

It's only speculation before we find out in a month from now what the Mars Colonial Transporter will be. But it' must have more than 2 stages, it cannot be just 2. TD;LR, even Falcon Heavy has 2+ stages (depending on mission).

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Neanderthal technology

>>8267587
What if it gets refueled in orbit?

>>8267587
>It's only speculation before we find out in a month from now what the Mars Colonial Transporter will be. But it' must have more than 2 stages, it cannot be just 2. TD;LR, even Falcon Heavy has 2+ stages (depending on mission).
>>8267975
>What if it gets refueled in orbit?

That's literally the only way people have managed to make the booster reusable and meet the Delta-V requirements imposed by the "Battlestar Approach," which leaked out some time ago.

It's never going to fly anyway, even the FH is years late and that's just three Falcons bolted together. They don't even have anywhere to make or launch the MCT.

>>8268000

SpaceX's focus for some time has been on improving their workflow and output. They could prioritize Falcon Heavy, but that would currently come at the cost of the number of Falcon 9 launches they can perform. Falcon Heavy will probably launch once they figure out how to ramp their launch rate. Their recent decision to cease individual engine testing for full stage firing is probably a step towards a faster launch cadence (and an indication of process maturity in Merlin 1D).

>>8268000
FH has been continuously delayed due to the continuous stream of improvements they've been making to the F9. They're rolling these improvements into FH too, because if they didn't by the time the first FH launches it will have been made pointless by the F9. Even now the F9 is capable of handling many missions originally slated for FH.

It's better that FH be delayed than obsolete on arrival.

>>8268032
>recent decision to cease individual engine testing for full stage firing
Nice. That'll make a big difference.

>>8268249
This.

If they roll out now, the mission to Mars will be bypassed by the 2nd mission to Mars because of all the improvements they made in the mean time.

>>8267567
Feelings are irrelevant in engineering.

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T minus 7 h 20 min