Post

Conversation

Robotbeat🗽 ➐
@Robotbeat
Methalox rockets can have lower fuel cost for same payload to LEO vs even efficient aircraft… If you look at a 777-8 for near-antipodal 16000km range, 50t of payload & 157t of Jet-A. 136MJ/kg. Starship v4 is 367MJ/kg to LEO. But natural gas is $3/GJ, Jet-A is $20/GJ.
Screenshot of calculator app displaying equation (197000 * 8kg * 43MJ/kg) / (50 tonnes) equaling 1353600 MJ/kg, with search bar and mode options visible. Line graph titled Payload-Range of Large Twin Aircraft showing payload in tonnes versus range in nautical miles for models B777-300ER, A350-1000, 777-9, 777-8, A350-1000HGW, with declining curves from 70 tonnes at 4000 miles to 30 tonnes at 8000 miles. Table titled Vehicle Summary Fully Reusable listing Starship versions V1(2024), V2(2025), V2(2026), V4 with columns for payload to orbit, booster prop load, booster LTOFF, ship initial thrust, ship engine count, booster engine count, ship vac engine, total height in meters.
Screenshot of calculator app displaying equation (197000 * 8kg * 43MJ/kg) / (50 tonnes) equaling 1353600 MJ/kg, with search bar and mode options visible. Line graph titled Payload-Range of Large Twin Aircraft showing payload in tonnes versus range in nautical miles for models B777-300ER, A350-1000, 777-9, 777-8, A350-1000HGW, with declining curves from 70 tonnes at 4000 miles to 30 tonnes at 8000 miles. Table titled Vehicle Summary Fully Reusable listing Starship versions V1(2024), V2(2025), V2(2026), V4 with columns for payload to orbit, booster prop load, booster LTOFF, ship initial thrust, ship engine count, booster engine count, ship vac engine, total height in meters.
Screenshot of calculator app displaying equation (197000 * 8kg * 43MJ/kg) / (50 tonnes) equaling 1353600 MJ/kg, with search bar and mode options visible. Line graph titled Payload-Range of Large Twin Aircraft showing payload in tonnes versus range in nautical miles for models B777-300ER, A350-1000, 777-9, 777-8, A350-1000HGW, with declining curves from 70 tonnes at 4000 miles to 30 tonnes at 8000 miles. Table titled Vehicle Summary Fully Reusable listing Starship versions V1(2024), V2(2025), V2(2026), V4 with columns for payload to orbit, booster prop load, booster LTOFF, ship initial thrust, ship engine count, booster engine count, ship vac engine, total height in meters.
Quote
Robotbeat🗽 ➐
@Robotbeat
Launching to LEO uses no more fuel or energy than near-antipodal supersonic cargo would. If you converted Concorde to a freighter it’d have 15.5t payload, 7000km range. 191t fuel to go 14000km for Concorde. Falcon9 uses 158t of kerosene to launch ~18t cargo with booster recovery
7.7K
Brian Frankie
@LNGFrankie
Natgas is $3/GJ at the pipeline offtake. But it has to be purified, liquefied, and subcooled. Prob about $5/GJ when loaded and ready for launch. And you also need to add in LOX cost to burn that fuel. Pure, 99.9% cryo subcooled LOX adds another $2.5/GJ equivalent to your fuel
244
Robotbeat🗽 ➐
@Robotbeat
Liquefaction isn’t that expensive if you’re operating at sufficient scale & do it on-site, and no, it doesn’t cost $2.5/GJ for rocket grade cryogenic oxygen. More like 200kWh/tonne, or $10/tonne at 5¢/kWh electrical rates (electricity is about half the cost of LOx, total $20/t).
Image
230
Views
David Watson 🥑
Post your reply

Brian Frankie
@LNGFrankie
I build LNG plants, at really large scale (e.g. 10k Starship fuel loads/year and up) and am pretty familiar with costs. $2/GJ for liquefaction is quite a generous estimate. Especially since the Starship load will be a little bespoke, with deep extraction of C3+ and complete
55
Robotbeat🗽 ➐
@Robotbeat
Subcooling is also optional and can be done pretty efficiently at scale, less energy than needed to liquefy it. Also: purification can pay for itself if you sell the more valuable liquids (like propane, ethane, etc).
57
Victor Renard
@valent44355
Ad
This company is flying - Do you know why ? They just announced a 300-acre AI-energy and EV project, the size of over 200 stadiums. YES, SIZE OF 200+ Stadiums I cannot even imagine, each time i go to a game, now think of 200 games one near another...this is massive...
Screenshot of a stock analysis webpage for NextEra Energy Inc (NEE) on NasdaqGS displaying real-time price at 80.97 USD with a 0.56 percent increase shown in green along with open price of 80.45 days range 80.24 to 81.70 52-week range 67.04 to 85.98 volume 1970415 average volume 4847714 one-year target estimate 91.50 market cap 164.77 billion beta 0.52 PE ratio 22.93 EPS 3.53 earnings date November 7 2024 forward dividend 2.14 yield 2.64 percent ex-dividend date August 30 2024 and sections for overview financials forecast statistics history profile chart news press releases conversation and search.
1.1M