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The Space Shuttle has four parts, namely the Orbiter, the External Tank, and the two SRBs. Only the Orbiter is reusable and actually lands, the rest are jettisoned in flight. (SRBs are recovered, the ET is not.) However, the Orbiter is completely incapable of flight without the other three, so it's not a rocket stage on its own, just part of one.

As for why it's harder to catch Starship than Super Heavy, where do I begin:

* Super Heavy is suborbital, its maximum velocity is far, far less than Starship.

* Super Heavy returns upright. The Starship does the famous but aerodynamically very complex "belly flop" to reduce speed.

* Super Heavy only has two static fins to guide it. Starship has four actively controlled fins that need to survive the extreme forces of launch and re-entry.

by dabluecaboose2 hours ago|

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> The Space Shuttle has four parts, namely the Orbiter, the External Tank, and the two SRBs. Only the Orbiter is reusable and actually lands, the rest are jettisoned in flight and burn up in the atmosphere.

Nitpick- the SRBs were also recovered and reused

by motionlessveloc2 hours ago|

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Right you are, corrected.

by palata1 hours ago|

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Thanks, the insights about Super Heavy vs Starship are interesting.

About how "huge" it is, I understand that it is economically huge: Musk will get even richer.

I would be interested in knowing how "huge" it is in terms of engineering. Like, my understanding is that they needed to invent new maths to go to the moon in the 60s. Does SpaceX compare with that, or is it "just" what you can do with a lot of money and powerful computers?

Genuinely interested, even though rocket fans will hate me for not knowing the answer and daring asking. Bring the downvotes!

by 2 hours ago|

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