Question SpaceX Super Heavy launching fuel pods

[Mycropht]

SpaceX is planning Starship tankers but it seems to me that quite a lot of mass is going up and down for a sake of full reusability. Now, I am very interested in the subject, but my knowledge is lacking.

With help of Claude AI , I was thinking of a Super Heavy launching not a Starship tanker, but a fuel pod carrier.

It would go like this:

A standard Super Heavy launches with a two-parts fuel pod:

• Carrier section with engines, powered enough to provide maneuvering, acceptable speed and altitude for a suborbital randezvous. Ideally recovered, maybe Falcon 9 fairing style.
• Fuel pod/tank section with grabbing points and minimal thermal protection. The pod is full, to minimize sloshing, with either methane or LOX.

An orbit-only Starship variant dives from the orbit and grabs the fuel pod which separates from the carrier section. The fuel is not transferred, but the complete pod is lifted to orbit with the Starship, with the fuel to be transferred later. The fuel pod is discarded and burns in orbit.

• I believe quite some weight could be stripped from the Starship if it is orbit-only, but some other parts must be added like the grabbing mechanism, and radiators for prolonged stay in orbit.

Now, I have no idea if it is feasible for the fuel pod and the diving Starship to match altitude and velocity with constraints that nothing should burn or crash and that the Starship should returns to a stable orbit with enough fuel in the tank so the whole operation makes sense. Also, that the risks involved are acceptable.

I would appreciate it if someone who knows more about this could tell me if the idea is completely stupid and, if so, why. I am not suggestion that it should be done that way, this is just playing with an idea.

 

[fj.torres]

Not stupid.
It's a safe bet the SPACEX staff are keeping an eye out for Starship derivative concepts. We'll see which way they go.

in the meantime check this orbital fuel depot concept:

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=T9EFqPcoTwU


A variant of this can be used to establish a chair of fuel stations in LEO, GEO, LUNAR ORBIT, LAGRANGE POINTS, and even MARS ORBIT. The MARS depot could be refueled from mars surface and serve for asteroid belt and outer planet unmanned exploration buses.

The key question is how long the depot can be powered to refrigerate the fuel so the fuel can be available when needed. Days? Weeks? Months? Years, maybe?

It would held deep space projects if the Starship can leave for its mission fully fueled well above the gravity well.

Some proposed concepts start with a central Starship derived core and add even more capacity with extra modules, think of storing enough fuel for multiple ship missions.