ok maybe complicated is the wrong word, but my understanding is that full-flow staged combustion was rated as very hard to develop verging on impossible a decade or two ago
I'd argue not that much actually _riding_ on this, it might just blow up on the launchpad or it might go up in the air. Either way they will try again in a few months.
So the difference between success (defined by musk as getting far away enough from the launchpad not to damage it) and failure (rud on pad) is a few months on the development timeline and money to rebuild the (quite complicated) tower.
Will be fun to watch either way, unless its a scrub.
If they have, like, 3 consecutive launchpad explosions over the next few years, then maybe we'd start talking about the whole project being in trouble.
If it actually does the whole flightpath then that will be pretty amazing.
The other question, why is this important: Its the biggest, most re-usable most ambitious rocket ever made. The 33 engines, apart from being numerous, are of a design more ambitious/challenging than any other rocket engine we've ever seen.
Oh definitely. It was like a slightly visible victory that didn't actually make much difference to the murdoch empire. I remember seeing murdoch in that select committee having to answer questions. That was something unprecedented(and almost a custard pie that arguably swung things in his favour). But no long term difference
NOTW closed but then I think they started publishing the Sun on Sunday instead?
NI/BSkyB merger was scuppered but now its back on the cards I think?
https://everydayastronaut.com/raptor-engine/
https://hackaday.com/2019/02/13/the-impossible-tech-behind-s...