[X] My Assistant

[Guest_Sedna_*]

Hi guys,

I think that tonight Ariane 5 ECA has shown again to be the most powerful orbiting "artifact" in the planet...

Don't you agree?

[RNeuhaus]

Hi guys,

I think that tonight Ariane 5 ECA has shown again to be the most powerful orbiting "artifact" in the planet...

Don't you agree?

The following are the rockets capabilities:
Shuttle Space -> 28,800 kg for LEO
Saturn V -> 118,000 kg for LEO
Energia -> 175,000 kg for LEO
Saturn V -> 47,000 kg to Moon
Ariane V ECA -> 12,000 kg for GTO
Delta 4 Heavy -> 13,100 kg for GTO
Atlas V -> 13,605 kg for GTO
Atlas V -> 25,000 kg for LEO

Rodolfo

[ugordan]

The following are the rockets capabilities:
Shuttle Space  -> 28,800 kg for LEO
Saturn V        -> 118,000 kg for LEO
Energia          -> 175,000 kg for LEO
Saturn V        -> 47,000 kg to Moon
Ariane V ECA  -> 12,000 kg for GTO
Delta 4 Heavy -> 13,100 kg for GTO
Atlas V          -> 13,605 kg for GTO
Atlas V          -> 25,000 kg for LEO

Rodolfo

That Energia figure seems to me to be on the high side. In any case, that's the projected payload capacity of Energia's most powerful configuration, Vulkan - with 8 liquid strap-on boosters. Needless to say, that configuration was never actually flown so the above figure is purely academic.

@edstrick: The Falcon 9 heaviest configuration (which, btw, looks an awful lot like a Delta IV Heavy) supposedly can lift some 25 tons into LEO while the Delta Heavy just under that. The other thing is that Delta itself can lift a heavier payload to a GTO orbit, probably because it uses LOX/LH2 engines as opposed to the cheaper RP/LOX Falcon 9 engines

[RNeuhaus]

the cheaper RP/LOX Falcon 9 engines

ugordan, thank you for the correction. I didn't catch Energia well. About the combustible RP, I know it is also used by Saturn V in the first stage S-1C (engine F-1). However, I haven't heard of it. How is it like? Similar to kerosene or not?

Rodolfo