However, compared to a similar construction TSTO I found my payload dropped precipitously, by 75%.Actually, requiring a 4x higher flight rate is not necessarily a loss, so long as you have at least some
That's *really* bad.
So I have to either build my launch vehicle 4x bigger or launch 4x more often. IMO neither seems like a brilliant idea. I think the costs go up by 4x, and then you have to claw it back by making your launch vehicle more reusable... but adding reusability also costs payload... it's rather a slippery slope.
payload. That just means 4x as many flights to amortize your vehicle over, getting more efficiencies
of scale, etc.
However, there are slightly better ways of doing this than the straight up and down first stage, but
I'm not a real fan of "flyback boosters". They tend to really start forcing your design in a route
that I personally don't like.
~Jon
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