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Propellant Depot vs Direct Launch

Compare a direct single-launch Earth-Moon mission — carrying its entire propellant load from liftoff — against a propellant-depot architecture where a small vehicle refuels at a cislunar waypoint. Adjust mission delta-v and watch the rocket equation punish the direct launch exponentially.

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Compares two architectures for delivering the same total mission delta-v to the Moon: a single direct launch that must carry all mission propellant from Earth's surface, versus a depot-staged mission where a small vehicle launches nearly empty and refuels at a cislunar waypoint filled by separate tanker flights.

⚙ Under the hood

Compare a direct single-launch Earth-Moon mission — carrying its entire propellant load from liftoff — against a propellant-depot architecture where a small vehicle refuels at a cislunar waypoint filled by resupply tankers. Adjust mission delta-v via the Tsiolkovsky rocket equation and watch the direct-launch rocket balloon exponentially while the depot mission stays split across smaller, cheaper launches.

propellant depotcislunar logisticsrocket equationTsiolkovskyorbital refuelingArtemisspace logisticsdelta-v

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