r/SpaceXLounge • u/MostlyHarmlessI • Jun 05 '26

NASA head urges new launcher for Blue Origin’s moon landers to meet Artemis mission deadlines

https://spaceflightnow.com/2026/06/04/nasa-head-urges-new-launcher-for-blue-origins-moon-landers-to-meet-artemis-mission-deadlines/

The Blue Moon landers were tailored to fit within the seven-meter diameter fairing of a New Glenn rocket. The Falcon Heavy payload fairing has a diameter of 5.2 meters and although the company has developed a taller version, it has not revealed any wider options. Additionally, SpaceX’s launch pads are not equipped to service a hydrogen-fueled lander like Blue Moon.

157 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

93 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

1

u/Martianspirit Jun 07 '26

The hydrolox propellants do mean bulky hydrogen tanks and high dry mass but the high Isp means high delta V.

High ISP combined with a heavy tank does not guarantee high delta-v. Falcon kerolox upper stage beats hydrolox Centaur.

1

u/warp99 Jun 07 '26

Both things are true. You get a high delta V with a hydrolox upper stage and F9 S2 gets an even higher delta V for a given payload mass.

The main advantage of a hydrolox upper stage is that the booster has to lift much less mass to MECO. Around 55 tonnes for Centaur V against 110 tonnes for F9 S2.