Oddbean new post about | logout
 Great way to look at it! But somehow I'm not convinced the whole argument is as rigid as Elon puts it. 4% payload is just the state of the art and the rocket equation would allow to lift much more to space if we further improved the tech. Saturn V didn't land any boosters, so Starship is way ahead already. They could get well above 4% to orbit if they wouldn't carry fuel for the landing.