6 ms·

Right, seems like the first question people would be interested in hearing an answer to. I assume there is no answer yet. With a quick check, I was surprised to

by gexla 6y ago

Right, seems like the first question people would be interested in hearing an answer to. I assume there is no answer yet. With a quick check, I was surprised to see that Blue Origin is developing a rocket which would be capable of launching these things (launch in 2021?)

kiba 6y ago
But could they launch as cheaply or as often as SpaceX's Falcon 9, which is years ahead? SpaceX isn't resting on its laurel either, with their R&D effort on Starship.
- gexla 6y ago
  Maybe they don't need to launch as cheaply. SpaceX wasn't the first to the idea. There are other players and these companies didn't have their own rockets. The numbers must be good enough to work even with pre-SpaceX launch costs.
  - verdverm 6y ago
    Elon said that the satellites are now cheaper to build than the cost to get them to orbit, and that they need starship to make it financially viable, iirc. He says this during a keynote with the US Air Force about 4 months ago. He also says a ton of other interesting things as well.
- kerng 6y ago
  Who says Amazon might not use SpaceX to bring the satellites in orbit?
  - _Microft 6y ago
    Jeff. I think he would rather personally subsidize every New Glenn launch than letting Amazon launch their satellites with SpaceX.
    - ianai 6y ago
      What’s that based on? Is there bad blood there?
      - _Microft 6y ago
        Jeff Bezos himself is owner of a rocket company called "Blue Origin". This company is developing a heavy-lift rocket awhich hasn't flown yet though. They already have some experience with booster return, as they have a small(er) vehicle serving as (future) science and tourism platform that can shoot the capsule with passengers and/or payload straight up over the Kármán line and have the booster return to the launch site. Since they already had achieved this, Bezos tweeted "Welcome to the club" when Elon Musk's SpaceX had their first successful rocket landing. If that's appropriate is subject for debate, as the conditions experienced are not comparable. Blue Origin also tried to patent landing a rocket booster on a boat while SpaceX was planning to exactly do that which lead to some bad blood.
        kerng 6y ago
        I think Blue Origin is more focused towards possibly building a lunar lander. The launches I have see were with comparable tiny rockets, unless they launch thousands of them, they won't carry the satellites needed in time. Curious to get more informed opinions on this actually.
        _Microft 6y ago
        "New Shepard" is only for tourists or scientists running experiments in the capsule. Any real payload would be launched with "New Glenn": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Glenn https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Glenn
        kerng 6y ago
        Thanks for sharing that, seems to still be out a bit - it took SpaceX quite a while to make Falcon 9 solid. So, if New Shephards first launch is next yearz it will probably take another 2-4 years until all glitches that appear are fixed. So I wouldn't be surprised if they send the first batches of satellites using rockets of other manufacturers.

by gexla 6y ago

kiba 6y ago

But could they launch as cheaply or as often as SpaceX's Falcon 9, which is years ahead? SpaceX isn't resting on its laurel either, with their R&D effort on Starship.

gexla 6y ago
Maybe they don't need to launch as cheaply. SpaceX wasn't the first to the idea. There are other players and these companies didn't have their own rockets. The numbers must be good enough to work even with pre-SpaceX launch costs.
- verdverm 6y ago
  Elon said that the satellites are now cheaper to build than the cost to get them to orbit, and that they need starship to make it financially viable, iirc. He says this during a keynote with the US Air Force about 4 months ago. He also says a ton of other interesting things as well.
kerng 6y ago
Who says Amazon might not use SpaceX to bring the satellites in orbit?
- _Microft 6y ago
  Jeff. I think he would rather personally subsidize every New Glenn launch than letting Amazon launch their satellites with SpaceX.
  - ianai 6y ago
    What’s that based on? Is there bad blood there?
    - _Microft 6y ago
      Jeff Bezos himself is owner of a rocket company called "Blue Origin". This company is developing a heavy-lift rocket awhich hasn't flown yet though. They already have some experience with booster return, as they have a small(er) vehicle serving as (future) science and tourism platform that can shoot the capsule with passengers and/or payload straight up over the Kármán line and have the booster return to the launch site. Since they already had achieved this, Bezos tweeted "Welcome to the club" when Elon Musk's SpaceX had their first successful rocket landing. If that's appropriate is subject for debate, as the conditions experienced are not comparable. Blue Origin also tried to patent landing a rocket booster on a boat while SpaceX was planning to exactly do that which lead to some bad blood.
      - kerng 6y ago
        I think Blue Origin is more focused towards possibly building a lunar lander. The launches I have see were with comparable tiny rockets, unless they launch thousands of them, they won't carry the satellites needed in time. Curious to get more informed opinions on this actually.
        _Microft 6y ago
        "New Shepard" is only for tourists or scientists running experiments in the capsule. Any real payload would be launched with "New Glenn": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Glenn https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Glenn
        kerng 6y ago
        Thanks for sharing that, seems to still be out a bit - it took SpaceX quite a while to make Falcon 9 solid. So, if New Shephards first launch is next yearz it will probably take another 2-4 years until all glitches that appear are fixed. So I wouldn't be surprised if they send the first batches of satellites using rockets of other manufacturers.