It can loiter in orbit, so is presumably intended for some form of weapons delivery. But has only cold gas thrusters so doesn't compete with hypersonic skip glide systems.
> Starfall weighs approximately 4,600 pounds (2.1 metric tons) with a capacity for about 2,200 pounds (1 metric ton) of payload, for a total weight of 6,800 pounds (3.1 metric tons).
Dropping 3 tons of kinetic force or a literal metric ton of explosives on top of a target seems like a great DoD use case.
Ah... Starfall is a big hockey puck. Actual warheads - especially kinetic impactors - have much pointier shapes, so air drag won't slow them to a crawl before they reach their targets. And fins, so they can steer at their targets - vs. "oops, there was a bit more cross-wind; it missed by 400 feet".
For the use cases you mention, Starfall would basically be an expensive square wheel.
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[ 15.9 ms ] story [ 408 ms ] threadIt can loiter in orbit, so is presumably intended for some form of weapons delivery. But has only cold gas thrusters so doesn't compete with hypersonic skip glide systems.
Is there a paying customer?
Dropping 3 tons of kinetic force or a literal metric ton of explosives on top of a target seems like a great DoD use case.
For the use cases you mention, Starfall would basically be an expensive square wheel.