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What other US-based company has had a man-rated rocket such that they owned the full stack, launch facility, etc? Sure contractors have been involved and built

What other US-based company has had a man-rated rocket such that they owned the full stack, launch facility, etc? Sure contractors have been involved and built lots of components, but this is the first time a corporation has owned the fully, complete product as well as the facilities to launch and recover.

Rebelgecko 8y ago
>What other US-based company has had a man-rated rocket such that they owned the full stack, launch facility, etc? No company does (including SpaceX)
- simonh 8y ago
  This is in the context of the OP saying SpaceX will soon also own and operate their own launch facility, so that comment was contrasting the situation SpaceX will be in then to other companies. So I’m afraid your comment kind of misses the point.
  - Rebelgecko 8y ago
    Last I heard, SpaceX won't be using Boca Chica for Falcon 9/Heavy launches. So they do have their own launch facility, and they do have their own rockets, but they don't currently have any rockets that they can launch from their LF (which isn't ready yet)
    - jryle70 8y ago
      Spacex lease LC39 and LC40 at Cape Canaveral. They are exclusively used for Spacex's launches. SpaceX need approval for launches obviously, but they have full control of the cadence and timetable. NASA and US Air Force are just customers (albeit with higher priority). They don't own the land like they do with Boca Chica, but from the operational perspective they are the same.
      - Rebelgecko 8y ago
        That's not quite how things are in practice. At the Cape and Vandenberg they need to submit a scheduling request to the range. In the past, the Air Force wouldn't allow launches within 72 hours of each other. This caused some conflicts as SpaceX (and to a lesser extent ULA and Orbital/Northrop) upped their launch cadence over the last year. In theory with the Falcon's automated FTS they can launch more frequently than that, but I don't think that has actually happened. Leasing the pad also prevents SpaceX from making certain modifications and puts some infrastructure constraints on them

Rebelgecko 8y ago

>What other US-based company has had a man-rated rocket such that they owned the full stack, launch facility, etc? No company does (including SpaceX)

simonh 8y ago
This is in the context of the OP saying SpaceX will soon also own and operate their own launch facility, so that comment was contrasting the situation SpaceX will be in then to other companies. So I’m afraid your comment kind of misses the point.
- Rebelgecko 8y ago
  Last I heard, SpaceX won't be using Boca Chica for Falcon 9/Heavy launches. So they do have their own launch facility, and they do have their own rockets, but they don't currently have any rockets that they can launch from their LF (which isn't ready yet)
  - jryle70 8y ago
    Spacex lease LC39 and LC40 at Cape Canaveral. They are exclusively used for Spacex's launches. SpaceX need approval for launches obviously, but they have full control of the cadence and timetable. NASA and US Air Force are just customers (albeit with higher priority). They don't own the land like they do with Boca Chica, but from the operational perspective they are the same.
    - Rebelgecko 8y ago
      That's not quite how things are in practice. At the Cape and Vandenberg they need to submit a scheduling request to the range. In the past, the Air Force wouldn't allow launches within 72 hours of each other. This caused some conflicts as SpaceX (and to a lesser extent ULA and Orbital/Northrop) upped their launch cadence over the last year. In theory with the Falcon's automated FTS they can launch more frequently than that, but I don't think that has actually happened. Leasing the pad also prevents SpaceX from making certain modifications and puts some infrastructure constraints on them