Posted on 09/05/2016 1:34:08 PM PDT by Rockitz
The explosion of a SpaceX rocket last Thursday will have an impact across the space industry, far beyond the losses on the launchpad at Cape Canaveral.
An Israeli satellite operator’s deal to sell itself to a Chinese company is imperiled. Planned launches of communications satellites that support international mobile phone service and digital television are delayed and put in doubt. NASA’s cargo deliveries to the International Space Station will probably be disrupted.
All of them are customers of the Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, or SpaceX, whose rocket exploded in Florida. The private space launch company, led by the entrepreneur Elon Musk, has a generally solid safety record.
But last week’s setback and a failed launch last year, when its rocket carrying a NASA cargo fell apart in flight, are raising questions about SpaceX, a company that has risen rapidly by offering lower costs and promising accelerated launch schedules.
At this stage, there are more questions than answers. The key for SpaceX will be how quickly it can satisfy federal investigators, rebuild the damaged launchpad at Cape Canaveral and resume sending satellites into space. For commercial telecommunications customers, getting a satellite manufactured is time-consuming and expensive, taking two years or more and costing $200 million to $400 million each.
The launch itself is a high-risk step, but once in orbit the satellites are money spinners. The upfront investment is paid back in a few years, and they then generate hefty profits for the remainder of their useful life, which could be as much as a decade.
So once a satellite is ready to go, time on the ground — and delay — are financially painful. Among the commercial satellite operators lined up for SpaceX launches later this year are Iridium Communications, SES of Luxembourg, EchoStar and KT Corporation of South Korea.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
His customers can get insurance for their satellites on their own.
Musk will have to offer launch discounts to offset his customer’s increased premiums.
Hence, my use of the term “net cost.”
We need these new space companies to get us back into space.
NASA has no interest in human space exploration. If we want humans back in space, these little start-ups are the only game in town.
It would be more productive to address what can facilitate that, than focusing on what will end it.
Ah yes. Sorry.
‘
His only chance in this business was to suck up all of the business with below-cost launches and attempt to bankrupt ULA.
...
Is it really below cost?
During the interview process he discovered that the BOM for the rocket was being stored in an Excel spreadsheet.
When he suggested that this might not be the best way to manage the parts, the interview was ended.
The government doesn’t care—and Musk is well-connected.
We do not need humans in space.
What is a BOM?
These people are way over their heads. More explosions to come.
...or is it named after JFK?
The rocket explosion, pending lawsuits and Tesla’s funding crisis all occuring at once may sunk Elon.
That’s pure conjecture on my part, but we’ll see. Certainly rebuilding a launch pad is going to increase his costs going forward. I strongly suspect that below-cost pricing is the primary reason he hasn’t gone public yet.
That sounds about par for the course.
Bill Of Materials. It is the root “build list”, a list of all parts needed.
I was under the impression that NASA does not set its own agenda. I think eight years of Trump will have NASA going places again. It’s time to go back to the moon. Young Americans need to see it happen in their own lifetimes, and it would hurt if the rest of the world could also get the message.
Humans in space may be the only place where there is peace in the future.
Take a look a this old world, and you soon realize that our exiting into space will happen for the same reason Europeans left Europe for the New World.
We do need humans in space.
It can be used to estimate costs, weight, scheduling, etc.
My friend was most interested in how they kept track of the overall weight of the rocket so they knew how much lift they would need to get it airborne.
They didn't seem quite as concerned as my friend.
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