/sci/ - Science & Math

>>11661806
Well, it's still extremely early days so I'd hesitate to say the engines are inherently more unstable than any other rocket engine. There have been plenty of cases where conventional rocket engines pop themselves due to combustion instability. Doesn't seem like an impossible problem even if they are fundamentally tougher to reign in though, that will just demand an advancement in real-time flight computer control of each engine. In the end if faster and smarter and more robust engine regulation is needed it might eventually lead to all rockets being inherently closer to the edge of their limits while simultaneously being much less likely to actually fail.
Consider aircraft, many modern fighters are so aerodynamically unstable they'd be nearly impossible for a human to fly manually, we invented better computers and flight systems to take up the job and now aircraft can perform aerobatic maneuvers which would have ripped older planes apart or caused them to completely lose all control. Modern planes as a result are actually safer for being more difficult to control.