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Statistical Ars Legatus Legionis et Subscriptor
NOV 22, 2021 12:33 PM
DStaal wrote:
jbode wrote:
Damn, that thing was in a hurry to get off the pad.One thing I've learned from KSP that was mildly surprising, and I believe translates to real life: Higher TWR rockets are more efficient to launch. The less time you have to burn at full thrust the less fuel you need to carry, which means less fuel used, etc.
To a degree. Higher TWR also means mass used for additional engines which could just be used for more for more propellant. When you consider economics not just raw performance that is even more important. One ton of engines cost far more than one ton of propellant. Higher TWR also means higher drag losses. Higher TWR means you will hit max Q sooner in thicker atmosphere which may require more aggressive throttling (and thus losing some of the benefit of the mass you paid for).
All that means most orbital rockets tend to fall into a TWR range of 1.2 to 1.6 although there are notable exceptions at either end. Saturn V is sluggish off the pad at a initial TWR of 1.14. Electron has a TWR of 1.8. ///
[TWR: Thrust-Weight Ratio]