On: SpaceX's Starship launching to orbit for first time ever today

[s08148692]

Yes. The Starship program is pushing the limits of engineering, if it fails today it doesn't make it unimpressive

I'd also consider the attempts at fusion energy to be very impressive engineering projects even though none have them have yielded a stable source of fusion energy

[dgellow → s08148692]

Could someone give me a eli5 of what makes that launch impressive compared to other rocket launches?

[dghlsakjg → dgellow]

It’s the largest, heaviest rocket ever, with double the thrust of the last record holder, and it is the first one that is supposed to be reusable.

It’s a lot of records that just got broken.

[dgellow → dghlsakjg]

Thanks for actually answering

[mchusma → dgellow]

I think for a sense of scale if this works as the SpaceX team wants, they will be able to launch more mass to orbit in a single day than all payloads ever before 2022 (rough math). And at a cost roughly 1/100th the prior average.

[atonse → dgellow]

Also getting to "orbit" is a huge feat, because you need to be going over 17,500 mph (28,000 km/h), get into a designated orbit, and in this case, they're also deploying starlink satellites.

This rocket is the largest rocket ever made by humans, and the largest to even reach orbit, which is insane considering it's by a private company and not a national space program.

[jryle70 → dgellow]

Full reuse. Both Superheavy (booster) and Starship (the spaceship). Especially Starship. It has never been been done (don't say Shuttle).

Falcon 9 achieved reusable 10 years ago. Other rockets have only started getting there recently. Starship is a big step forward.

[mvlipwig → dgellow]

36 full flow staged combustion engines all working is no easy feat

[Retric → dgellow]

It’s big.