Leave the spent booster behind.
Why discard a spent booster before burning the upper stage?
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Why discard a spent booster before burning the upper stage?
Why discard a spent booster before burning the upper stage?
Fit the components before testing.
Staging removes dry mass that the upper stage would otherwise have to accelerate. Each stage gets an ideal velocity change from its own changing mass ratio; those velocity changes add.
Starship-inspired two-stage mass-ratio model. Illustrative masses in tonnes and exhaust velocities 3,200/3,500 m/s, not a current vehicle performance claim. Gravity, drag, reserves and staging dynamics omitted. The cutaway is held in a service stand during separation; its supports are excluded from vehicle mass.
Separate the booster and exceed 8 km/s ideal total velocity change.
Compare velocity change with and without booster separation.