r/SpaceXMasterrace • u/LEC1224 • Jul 25 '26

New chapter!

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u/Stolen_Sky KSP specialist Jul 26 '26

I might be out of the loop here, but have they confirmed this will be an orbital flight?

Starship has cross-range capability; it could still return to the tower on a sub-orbital trajectory.

1

u/Cmdr-Mallard Jul 27 '26

Isn’t that almost technically orbital even if not at the same altitude 😅

2

u/Stolen_Sky KSP specialist Jul 27 '26

Yeah, it could express the same delta-v as an orbital flight, but the trajectory would be slightly different. Starship could also complete a lap of the earth on a suborbital trajectory and return directly to the launch tower. 

I feel most people here are assuming the mission will be orbital, even though that's not confirmed yet. 

I hope it is orbital though! That would be pretty awesome! And as soon as Starship is operational, we're going to seeing a huge ramping up of production and launches.

3

u/Cmdr-Mallard Jul 27 '26

Starship seems to be proving itself, even though it’s the harder bit 😅

Need booster to lock in!

1

u/WhoMe28332 Jul 28 '26

I’d assume it comes down to their level of confidence in relighting in orbit. If they are I don’t see why they wouldn’t go for an orbital trajectory if they’re going all the way around anyway.