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.

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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