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Not entirely. He has delivered a number of “firsts”, such as rockets that land upright, and is about to deliver more: the satellite internet business will opera
by throwaway84742 8y ago
Not entirely. He has delivered a number of “firsts”, such as rockets that land upright, and is about to deliver more: the satellite internet business will operate a constellation of satellites that is vastly larger than all satellites currently in orbit. This means they can only be automatically controlled.
Frankly, even just delivering one innovation of this magnitude is impressive, being able to do it again and again deserves respect and admiration.
- rohit2412 8y agohttps://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_Douglas_DC-X https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_Douglas_DC-X Wait satellite internet business is new? What have you been smoking? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite_Internet_access https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite_Internet_access
- throwaway84742 8y agoSatellite internet is not new. Flying and controlling thousands of satellites most definitely is new, however.
- rohit2412 8y agoViaweb, oneweb etc do this. And it may be an operational challenge, not nothing revolutionary
- throwaway84742 8y agoNobody flies thousands of satellites right now. There are about 1200 satellites in orbit _total_. And nobody controls their satellite constellations fully automatically. And even if OneWeb does end up launching its constellation, this is only viable with a reusable rocket fleet which is manufactured and operated by their main competitor. So I’m skeptical.
- Gravityloss 8y agoDC-X was a nineties rocket that flew and landed on its tail. It was not orbital though. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzXcTFfV3Ls https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzXcTFfV3Ls
- throwaway84742 8y agoAll right. “Orbital rockets that land upright”. Better now?
- DmenshunlAnlsis 8y agoYou kinda missed the main point. Musk's business is focused entirely on improving existing, proven, old technologies. So we’re all in agreement then, very good.
- throwaway84742 8y agoIt’s kind of like saying that a motorcycle is an “improved bicycle”.
- afterburner 8y agoIt's more like saying a self-balancing bicycle is an improved bicycle.
- Gravityloss 8y agoThere were separate technologies. Orbital rockets. Rockets with kerosene gas generator engines or balloon tanks or aluminium lithium tanks already. There were rockets that landed on their tail. These technologies were all combined into one.