Technical Details
Elon Musk explained why high thrust-to-weight ratio is crucial for future rockets like Starship. According to him, when transitioning to fully reusable systems, the launch economy changes dramatically. In fully reusable rockets, fuel cost plays a major role. Therefore, it is more beneficial to make engines more powerful, even if they consume a bit more fuel. High thrust-to-weight ratio allows rockets to accelerate faster, overcome gravity more efficiently, and ultimately reduce the cost of delivering cargo to orbit.
Context and Background
Even for Falcon 9, which is about 80% reusable, losing the upper stage is much more expensive than losing fuel, so relatively inefficient fuel use (low thrust-to-weight ratio) still reduces the cost per ton delivered to orbit. Boom Supersonic founder Blake Scholl noted: «When you get the thrust and mass right, the rocket truly takes off».
Industry Impact
This comment was made under a comparative video showing how much faster the new generation Starship takes off. Photo SpaceX Previously, SpaceX's Elon Musk commented on the state of the Starship's heat shield after another test flight, noting that the new screen fully performed its role. Earlier, it was reported that Starship released all 20 Starlink satellite simulators, as well as two modified Starlink satellites, specially adapted for filming.