<story><title>NASA says SpaceX’s next Starship flight could test refueling tech</title><url>https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/12/nasa-wants-to-see-gas-stations-in-space-but-so-far-its-tanks-are-empty/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>thebigman433</author><text>This is pretty interesting, but Id be surprised if it actually happens on the next flight. Depending on the cost of the tanks&amp;#x2F;fittings&amp;#x2F;machines, it could be a fairly expensive loss if Starship doesnt reach orbit, which seems fairly likely still. Their last launch was impressive, but Id be wary to put a payload worth more than a few pennies on the next launch</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>spikels</author><text>Faulty assumptions and logic.&lt;p&gt;The “payload” is an experiment that is at most two tanks, a valve and monitoring equipment. However it is pretty clear they will use the existing LOX main and header tanks and valves already present in every Starship. This will meet the requirements of NASA’s 2020 $53 million challenge to “transfer 10 metric tons of cryogenic propellant, specifically liquid oxygen, between tanks on a Starship vehicle”[1] as the smaller header tank holds roughly 20 tons.&lt;p&gt;If you are already attempting to get into orbit it makes sense to include this experiment in case you succeed because you save the time and cost of an entire launch and might get a $53 million award while advancing a key requirement for HLS, a $2.9 billion dollar contract and the current core mission.&lt;p&gt;This experiment has been planned for years, Starship was designed to do it and it makes sense to do it now. SpaceX clearly knows what they are doing. Unfortunately HN is terrible on this subject.&lt;p&gt;[1] &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.nasa.gov&amp;#x2F;technology&amp;#x2F;2020-nasa-tipping-point-selections&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.nasa.gov&amp;#x2F;technology&amp;#x2F;2020-nasa-tipping-point-sele...&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>
<story><title>NASA says SpaceX’s next Starship flight could test refueling tech</title><url>https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/12/nasa-wants-to-see-gas-stations-in-space-but-so-far-its-tanks-are-empty/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>thebigman433</author><text>This is pretty interesting, but Id be surprised if it actually happens on the next flight. Depending on the cost of the tanks&amp;#x2F;fittings&amp;#x2F;machines, it could be a fairly expensive loss if Starship doesnt reach orbit, which seems fairly likely still. Their last launch was impressive, but Id be wary to put a payload worth more than a few pennies on the next launch</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>BryanLegend</author><text>It&amp;#x27;s fantastic that the Super Heavy booster fully completed it&amp;#x27;s mission! Much bigger deal than the ship itself failing.&lt;p&gt;Before that last flight it seemed like engine reliability wouldn&amp;#x27;t get solved. But now they have a clear path to orbit.&lt;p&gt;I doubt the heat shields will hold up on the first several re-entry attempts but there&amp;#x27;s been recent sightings of a new heat shield that has tiles about half the size. Maybe smaller tiles will have less lever action and will have 4x the fasteners.</text></comment>