RGClark
Mathematician
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2010
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In his presentation at about the 54 minute mark Musk discusses that the second stage in its tanker form or in its spaceship form will be able to reach orbit when used as a single stage. He states though the tanker will not be able to land, presumably because of insufficient reserve fuel. Then it could be an expendable SSTO.
However, he states it could be used as cargo ship for fast intercontinental deliveries. In this case it would need to land so presumably he means this would be at speeds just below orbital.
Making Humans a Multiplanetary Species - YouTube
A simulation of the ITS upper stage tanker as an SSTO:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kzyzwr-5XXY"]ITS Tanker SSTO - YouTube[/ame]
It suggests it can get a total mass of 190 metric tons to LEO as an expendable. Since the dry mass is 90 metric tons, this means a 100 metric ton payload to orbit.
Bob Clark