@geoffc the definition of hypersonic weapon is pretty slippery (see esp Russia's claims on theirs) but they largely involve solving difficult thermal and propulsion problems in lower-atmosphere regimes that aren't as applicable to SpaceX's/Elon's stated ambitions
my admittedly inexpert impression is that the only practical result is a hypersonic scramjet cruise missile, which is extraordinarily difficult to pull off
the other avenues you see boil down to rebranded IRBMs, which do have their uses but aren't as flexible as a continually-propelled vehicle
though anything going hypersonic will have limited maneuvering capability, propelled or not
I imagine Musk also wouldn't be thrilled by being even more enmeshed with federal regulations. Rockets and all are already ITAR but with hypersonic weapons you're moving toward even-more-restricted fielda of development
Nuclear warheads entering the atmosphere have been a hypersonic weapons since the 60th. At that time, the only technical way to stop (intercept) them, was to detonate a small nuclear explosion in front of them.
Ah, I’d seen the articles on it, but nothing confirming that it was a LOX leak. Thanks!
Well, there goes (afaik) the longest streak of successful launches for a rocket. Ah, well, time to start a new streak? I wonder if they’ll even hit 350 new F9 launches before they decide to retire the system.
Then again, at the rate they’re going, that’s probably 3 years or so, and I suspect it’ll still be flying then unless there’s some major changes to the Starship development
