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Very happy that countries continue pushing into space. However couldn't help but notice that SpaceX is progressing faster than anyone else. Long March 7 that th

by skolos 10y ago

Very happy that countries continue pushing into space. However couldn't help but notice that SpaceX is progressing faster than anyone else. Long March 7 that they used for this mission had just 2 launches [1] compared to similar by payload to LEO Falcon 9's more than 30 launches [2]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_March_7 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_March_7 [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falcon_9 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falcon_9

nullnilvoid 10y ago
SpaceX hired all NASA's engineers and uses all NASA's technologies. China builds its technologies all by itself, given that the US banned any collaboration in space program with China. You bet that SpaceX launched a few more than rockets than China. Even that, China has a higher success rate than SpaceX in rocket launching. SpaceX explodes a little too often.
- seanmcdirmid 10y ago
  > China builds its technologies all by itself Well, if you want to be technical about it: they are using Russian designs and got help from Russia. Russian designs are also very reliable, which is why we use them ourselves.
  - avmich 10y ago
    > they are using Russian designs Not at all. An important and telling detail: pintle injector is almost never used in Russia, but standard for Merlins. Or you can look into gas generator cycle, which isn't used for today's Russian kerosene engines except RD-107 family, which have separate components for turbopumps and pressurization.
- nkoren 10y ago
  > SpaceX hired all NASA's engineers and uses all NASA's technologies. Um, no, that's wrong. I'm thrilled for China's accomplishments and won't talk down about them, but your assessment of SpaceX is simply false.
nullnilvoid 10y ago
Well, Long March 7 made its inaugural flight on June 25, 2016 while Falcon 9 did it back in Oct 2012. It is not surprising that Falcon 9 had more flights given that NASA had contracts with SpaceX to ship stuff to ISS where China is banned. Wait until ISS is retired in 2024 and China's space station will be the only one in space.

by skolos 10y ago

nullnilvoid 10y ago

SpaceX hired all NASA's engineers and uses all NASA's technologies. China builds its technologies all by itself, given that the US banned any collaboration in space program with China. You bet that SpaceX launched a few more than rockets than China. Even that, China has a higher success rate than SpaceX in rocket launching. SpaceX explodes a little too often.

seanmcdirmid 10y ago
> China builds its technologies all by itself Well, if you want to be technical about it: they are using Russian designs and got help from Russia. Russian designs are also very reliable, which is why we use them ourselves.
- avmich 10y ago
  > they are using Russian designs Not at all. An important and telling detail: pintle injector is almost never used in Russia, but standard for Merlins. Or you can look into gas generator cycle, which isn't used for today's Russian kerosene engines except RD-107 family, which have separate components for turbopumps and pressurization.
nkoren 10y ago
> SpaceX hired all NASA's engineers and uses all NASA's technologies. Um, no, that's wrong. I'm thrilled for China's accomplishments and won't talk down about them, but your assessment of SpaceX is simply false.

nullnilvoid 10y ago

Well, Long March 7 made its inaugural flight on June 25, 2016 while Falcon 9 did it back in Oct 2012. It is not surprising that Falcon 9 had more flights given that NASA had contracts with SpaceX to ship stuff to ISS where China is banned. Wait until ISS is retired in 2024 and China's space station will be the only one in space.