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I had a similar giggle reading about the "rideshare opportunities" > This large deployable envelope allows for the design of novel payloads, rideshare opportun

I had a similar giggle reading about the "rideshare opportunities" > This large deployable envelope allows for the design of novel payloads, rideshare opportunities and entire constellations of satellites on a single launch. I'm totally looking forward to hailing a Starship in the Uber app. (I actually don't know what they mean by ridesharing)

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
wmf 6y ago
In this context, ridesharing means piggybacking one or more small satellites on the launch of a larger, primary satellite. It can be close to "free" because the primary is going to launch anyway.
baron816 6y ago
They might require you to have a registered spaceport in your yard to land and pick you up.
temporalparts 6y ago
In the context of space launches, ridesharing means that multiple satellites share a single launch as opposed to the traditional 1 satellite 1 rocket approach. All Starlink satellites have been launched via ridesharing missions, with ~60 satellites per launch (and sometimes with satellites from other companies!).
- garmaine 6y ago
  > All Starlink satellites have been launched via ridesharing missions, with ~60 satellites per launch (and sometimes with satellites from other companies!). Actually aside from the first couple of Starlink test units, it has been the other way around. SpaceX launches dedicated Starlink missions on a regular cadence using previously flown boosters, and offsets the cost somewhat by offering rideshare opportunities. There will be 60 Starlink satellites per launch, but sometimes less if they find a rideshare.
  - temporalparts 6y ago
    The definition of rideshare is that they ride with multiple other satellites. 60 satellites means that each are ridesharing with 59 other ones. The ridesharing program is what SpaceX offers to outsiders, but the concept of rideshared rocket is whenever a rocket ferries multiple satellites to save cost.
ComodoHacker 6y ago
>looking forward to hailing a Starship in the Uber app Not totally unreasonable, according to another quote: >The cargo version can also be used for rapid point-to-point Earth transport.
- qayxc 6y ago
  Except totally unreasonable :) Rockets that size cannot be launched anywhere near populated areas, so they'd have to launch from off-shore platforms; outside of Australia, USA and Russia there are no worthwhile destinations that can safely host on-shore rocket launch complexes for that class of rocket. This poses quite complex logistical challenges that enthusiasts just love to handwave away. But there's even more to it: airspace needs to be closed on both launch and target sites. Weather will lead to scrubbed flights as rockets have much tighter weather parameters than aeroplanes and are incapable of changing routes mid flight or divert to alternate airfields. The most ridiculous part, however, is passenger logistics: every astronaut/cosmonaut/taikonaut wears pressure suits during ascend, since otherwise there's no way to breathe in case of a loss of cabin pressure once you're above 20km. Oxygen masks just won't do anymore at such heights. This means passengers would need to wear and familiarise themselves with pressure suits, unless SpaceX can convince the FAA somehow that even fewer failure modes can be mitigated while still being safe for passengers... Getting onto the rocket is another point that's far from trivial - one doesn't simply walk into Starship and pick a seat. The seats wouldn't be upright, so passengers would need to climb into them and be secured by personell. Not to mention the elevator ride and the long wait during fuelling (remember: SpaceX are the only ones who do "dry-loading", that is they only start fuelling once the passengers are on board). So your 30 minute short trip from LA to Paris would in reality consist of a 1 hour drive to the port, followed by 1 hour check-in and a 1 hour boat ride to the off-shore launch facilities. Next you'd have at least 1 hour of boarding procedures (limited elevator space, pressure suit fitting, seating) followed by fuelling (maybe another hour?). So after about 5 hours or so you are finally clear for launch and arrive somewhere off the coast of France 30 minutes later. From there it's another hour for unloading, an hour to get to the coast and another two hours from the coast to Paris. In total, best-case scenario travel time would be about 9½h - better than the 16h via plane (12h flight + 4h getting to-/from airport plus boarding time), but a far cry from Shotwell's "business meeting in Abu Dhabi in the morning and back in Vancouver for dinner". The off-shore launch platform idea isn't mine, by the way - the concept was brought forward by SpaceX themselves and presented by Glenn Shotwell who said "the longest part of the ride is be the boat out and back" [1]. I'm highly sceptical of the idea - not because I think it's impossible, which it isn't - but because the logistics, regulatory conditions, and economics behind it just don't make sense. I could be wrong, of course, and stranger things happened, but realistically, the odds are very much against this ever going to happen[+]. [+] using Starship/Super Heavy as envisioned and developed today [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dar8P3r7GYA&feature=youtu.be&t=890 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dar8P3r7GYA&feature=youtu.be...

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

wmf 6y ago

In this context, ridesharing means piggybacking one or more small satellites on the launch of a larger, primary satellite. It can be close to "free" because the primary is going to launch anyway.

baron816 6y ago

They might require you to have a registered spaceport in your yard to land and pick you up.

temporalparts 6y ago

In the context of space launches, ridesharing means that multiple satellites share a single launch as opposed to the traditional 1 satellite 1 rocket approach. All Starlink satellites have been launched via ridesharing missions, with ~60 satellites per launch (and sometimes with satellites from other companies!).

garmaine 6y ago
> All Starlink satellites have been launched via ridesharing missions, with ~60 satellites per launch (and sometimes with satellites from other companies!). Actually aside from the first couple of Starlink test units, it has been the other way around. SpaceX launches dedicated Starlink missions on a regular cadence using previously flown boosters, and offsets the cost somewhat by offering rideshare opportunities. There will be 60 Starlink satellites per launch, but sometimes less if they find a rideshare.
- temporalparts 6y ago
  The definition of rideshare is that they ride with multiple other satellites. 60 satellites means that each are ridesharing with 59 other ones. The ridesharing program is what SpaceX offers to outsiders, but the concept of rideshared rocket is whenever a rocket ferries multiple satellites to save cost.

ComodoHacker 6y ago

>looking forward to hailing a Starship in the Uber app Not totally unreasonable, according to another quote: >The cargo version can also be used for rapid point-to-point Earth transport.

qayxc 6y ago
Except totally unreasonable :) Rockets that size cannot be launched anywhere near populated areas, so they'd have to launch from off-shore platforms; outside of Australia, USA and Russia there are no worthwhile destinations that can safely host on-shore rocket launch complexes for that class of rocket. This poses quite complex logistical challenges that enthusiasts just love to handwave away. But there's even more to it: airspace needs to be closed on both launch and target sites. Weather will lead to scrubbed flights as rockets have much tighter weather parameters than aeroplanes and are incapable of changing routes mid flight or divert to alternate airfields. The most ridiculous part, however, is passenger logistics: every astronaut/cosmonaut/taikonaut wears pressure suits during ascend, since otherwise there's no way to breathe in case of a loss of cabin pressure once you're above 20km. Oxygen masks just won't do anymore at such heights. This means passengers would need to wear and familiarise themselves with pressure suits, unless SpaceX can convince the FAA somehow that even fewer failure modes can be mitigated while still being safe for passengers... Getting onto the rocket is another point that's far from trivial - one doesn't simply walk into Starship and pick a seat. The seats wouldn't be upright, so passengers would need to climb into them and be secured by personell. Not to mention the elevator ride and the long wait during fuelling (remember: SpaceX are the only ones who do "dry-loading", that is they only start fuelling once the passengers are on board). So your 30 minute short trip from LA to Paris would in reality consist of a 1 hour drive to the port, followed by 1 hour check-in and a 1 hour boat ride to the off-shore launch facilities. Next you'd have at least 1 hour of boarding procedures (limited elevator space, pressure suit fitting, seating) followed by fuelling (maybe another hour?). So after about 5 hours or so you are finally clear for launch and arrive somewhere off the coast of France 30 minutes later. From there it's another hour for unloading, an hour to get to the coast and another two hours from the coast to Paris. In total, best-case scenario travel time would be about 9½h - better than the 16h via plane (12h flight + 4h getting to-/from airport plus boarding time), but a far cry from Shotwell's "business meeting in Abu Dhabi in the morning and back in Vancouver for dinner". The off-shore launch platform idea isn't mine, by the way - the concept was brought forward by SpaceX themselves and presented by Glenn Shotwell who said "the longest part of the ride is be the boat out and back" [1]. I'm highly sceptical of the idea - not because I think it's impossible, which it isn't - but because the logistics, regulatory conditions, and economics behind it just don't make sense. I could be wrong, of course, and stranger things happened, but realistically, the odds are very much against this ever going to happen[+]. [+] using Starship/Super Heavy as envisioned and developed today [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dar8P3r7GYA&feature=youtu.be&t=890 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dar8P3r7GYA&feature=youtu.be...