Posted on 06/09/2024 9:53:41 AM PDT by Chode
For both military and civilian applications, launching satellites into orbit has long been both useful and incredibly expensive. But over the last decade, the costs to put payload into orbit have shrunk dramatically, driven by launchers like the SpaceX Falcon 9 & Falcon Heavy while the number of satellites in orbit has exploded.
And now, with tests proceeding with the two-stage Starship super-heavy, it may be that even cheaper access to space is on the horizon.
In this episode we explore why demand for orbital assets is increasing, how the US retook top spot in the Space Race, and what systems like Starship might mean for the future if they perform as advertised.
When the Artemis mission finally lands Americans on the moon it would be cool to watch it from Musks’ starship on the lunar surface.
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LOL! Dumbass writer. How about "proliferated" instead of "exploded"?
The recent launch of Starship Superheavy was phenomenal. If it wasn't for SpaceX, the U.S. would rank 3rd in the space race, behind China and Russia. SORRY NASA!
The impact Spacex has had on launch vehicle advances is astonishing, even though Biden wants Musk to hire illegals and is SUING SpaceX over that.
I find that debatable right now. Unresolved problems with Starliner, which is 10 YEARS late to the party, and the Chinese are eating our lunch in lunar exploration.
More propaganda…
Interesting and informative.
Nope. Not propaganda.
You have probably guessed that SpaceX is putting more payload tonnage into orbit than anyone else.
Elon Musk said to his employees (and I believe him) that 90% of all tonnage being sent into space currently is sent by SpaceX.
When Starship begins sending payloads, that number is going to jump to 99%. (His words)
Currently, that remaining 10% is sent by the non-SpaceX USA, China, Russia, and a spate of others.
At this moment, the SuperHeavy booster can function as a single-use rocket, and boost TONS OF MATERIALS into space. Since the ultimate goal is reusability of the booster and Starship, SpaceX does not announce it as ready. SpaceX never ever stops improving and advancing, but if necessary, someone could hire SpaceX to boost major weight without a guarantee that they could recover and reuse the booster.
Some have commented that the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy are now more reliable than Boeing. Musk has already proved that the current Falcon 9 rocket can be reused 20 times. Musk recently announced a goal of improving it to 40 launches per Falcon 9. The cost of each launch is plummeting.
Watching the thousands of SpaceX employees cheering their own work is so inspiring and hopeful. Young people inspired to reach for the heavens, and actually getting there.
Robert Heinlein is smiling.
I am all in on SpaceX. That makes me proud to see an American company operating like that.
When that Starship lifted off the other day, it actually made my heart beat faster.
I have been intellectually excited about SpaceX for some time, but I think I felt emotionally excited watching that massive thing, bigger, twice as powerful as a Saturn 5 come off the pad.
Astonishing.
I guess I could say that SpaceX has more of the “Right Stuff” than NASA does, now.
I’m discouraged about NASA, but it does strengthen my belief in the free market.
I have always been a huge fan of the Wright Brothers and what they accomplished with their own time and money, steadfastly refusing to accept money from any source that might be able to exercise control over them.
It isn’t an exact analogy to SpaceX, but...SpaceX changed my mind. I thought that only NASA could do what it was doing. Boy, was I wrong, and a good thing, too.
That was 5000 tons at liftoff, truly astonishing
What just nailed me was the overhead view as the engines lit off...just WOW!
The US government has shown itself as leaking information to the Chinese (or directly selling it to them, as with the Clintons). SpaceX has excellent reasons to keep its technological advantages to itself.
100%
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