Mindset: SpaceX - beyond drymass

[Article series re: approach of vendor's unique mindset expressed through vehicles, subsystems/components, business models, service offerings and the like. Meant to convey in the way they scope additional advantage over rivals. Before proven. First article.]

Vendors differ sometimes greatly in Ground Support Equipment (GSE), usually in vehicle specifics, like propellant and engine start. The 6 column supported "ring" above is StarShip SuperHeavy's launch mount, and each of the oval vertical slots corresponds to rocket engine start-up, qualification, and lockdown for the outermost Raptor circle of engines (largest number), only used for launch and not increasing vehicle drymass.

Raptor, like Falcon 9's Merlin, is a singular engine type with multiple configurations - the outer ring uses a fixed number of the lightest sea level expansion, fixed mounted engines. Another startable Raptor type has gimbals for use inside the outer ring.

There's another GSE of the tower in the big black boxy structure to the side, it's used to load, unload, launch, and land either the SuperHeavy, the Starship SuperHeavy, or land and unload Starship. The benefit of this unlikely contraption is to allow highest rate launch operations. Conceivably every satellite in a 50,000 could be deorbitted and freshened from none to full in less than a week.

I like to think that this approach is a trimmed "topless/bottomless" booster whose lifecycle doesn't end as it shuffles between top (orbit) and bottom (mount), never needing a full set of booster components, because it never needs to have them. Perhaps more components yet to be shed?

[Look for the next article soon to come -William Jolitz.]