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Cheaper launch has moved the spacecraft bottleneck. Mass is out, surface area is in.

This shift affects spacecraft design and operation, particularly for larger satellites and missions with complex thermal management requirements.

Trevor Smith14 Aug 20261 min read
Cheaper launch has moved the spacecraft bottleneck. Mass is out, surface area is in.
Image via SpaceNews

In the beginning, mass constrained spaceflight. We live at the bottom of a gravity well, and the rocket equation punishes every kilogram we try to lift out of it. Mass […] The post Cheaper launch has moved the spacecraft bottleneck. Mass is out, surface area is in. appeared first on SpaceNews.

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