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Posted on 08/16/2025 10:17:27 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
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Musk derided the Ariane 5 as a joke I think it was. Ariane 6 was in development, but years late. And once it got made, it still wasn’t reusable. And the launch cost to the customer covers the staff, fuel, and throwaway rocket, but probably only just. The next Ariane is supposed to address reusability in some fashion, but probably won’t be in testing for ten years.
What you said.
Russia and China are also likely still operating on the “loss of face” mindset inherent in a government/nation state run operation. SpaceX is fine with losing hardware in unmanned/experimental launches and they get a pile of resulting data and experience, while the Russians and Chinese are probably always hand wringing over the “social cost” of having their fancy equipment yard sale in midair on TV.
And Katy Perry did not reach orbit.
/bingo
2. Bezos has to depend on SpaceX to launch his satellites and cannot use his own Blue Origin rockets.
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However, Blue Origin has a hybrid chemical/electric engine that will power its MTO missions. The new engine will allow a wide latitude of launch times and increased maneuverability with unlimited power.
Blue Origin announced on August 12, 2025, a proposed Mars Telecommunications Orbiter (MTO) mission. This orbiter, based on Blue Origin’s Blue Ring satellite platform, is designed to support future NASA Mars missions, including a potential Mars Sample Return mission and future crewed expeditions, with an envisioned operational date by 2028. The MTO would be supplemented by deployable UHF relay satellites to provide wide-area coverage on Mars. The system will make possible near real time communications between Earth and Mars.
China is developing a similar system and could conceivably catch up and overtake Starlink.
China and Russia get to watch the launches just like we all do but can’t duplicate the feat of launching, landing and reusing the boosters.
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China now has a reusable booster. Russia does not have the money to develop one.
It’s hard to do Ariane costs because it is govt subsidized, heavily. And to make it trickier, their customers tend to be EU types who are paying the taxes that subsidize.
I think SpaceX launches from Canaveral? For Space Force missions, so that’s a govt customer and that’s a subsidy. Texas has no state income tax but probably incentivized SpaceX to be there.
Costs are never clear.
SpaceX launches from Vandenburg AFB north of Santa Barbara, CA for military NRO missions (we can sometimes see the launch trails in the San Francisco Bay Area); Padre Island, TX; and Cape Canaveral, FL.
Catching that booster makes it an insanely great success!
jeffy has bought rides for kuiper on ula atlas and vulcan rockets and spacex falcon 9. his blue origon new glen has only launched once and a new on is not ready till the end of this year.
They launch from Florida, Texas, and California. The Texas facility was purpose-built by SpaceX.
is that because the Heavy blew up too many times?
The Falcon Heavy has never blown up in the ten or so launches. Recovery of the core stage has been an issue, and often the core booster has just been used in expendible mode.
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