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Because there's no ego benefit there. That's all these companies exist for.

marcinzm 5y ago
SpaceX is a functioning business that actually launches things into space at a lower cost than competitors. Basically every successful company has a massive amount of ego behind it but the question is if they actually achieve anything tangible and, eventually, profitable.
- pmoriarty 5y ago
  "SpaceX is a functioning business that actually launches things into space at a lower cost than competitors." This might actually lead to a greatly increased risk of creating an impenetrable field of space junk if the thousands more satellites that SpaceX launches collide in to one another. If that happens expect SpaceX supporters to start singing a different tune.
  - marcinzm 5y ago
    SpaceX is launching its own internet satellites into low orbit so their satellites will only burn up in a decade without boosting. If your argument is "don't progress or change in any way because something bad might happen" then I suspect you'll find few takers on this site.
    - tsimionescu 5y ago
      Collisions in LEO launch debris in all orbits, they are not limited to LEO. I wouldn't be surprised if SpaceX will turn out to be the reason we won't be able to explore space at all for a few hundred years.
      - marcinzm 5y ago
        >Collisions in LEO launch debris in all orbits, they are not limited to LEO. How often? You'd need a pretty lucky collision to knock something into a higher stable circular orbit.
        tsimionescu 5y ago
        Any collision has a chance to knock things at orbital speeds in any direction. Anything launched away from the earth will be flung towards other orbits at something close to the 28,000km/h speeds of LEO. Here is an article in Nature [0] discussing other risks, and mentioning that LEO is already in the early stages of Kessler Syndrome, while SpaceX alone is seeking to launch as many extra satellites as there are tracked pieces of debris already in orbit, with several other companies having similar plans. They also mention that debris in one orbit can cross to other orbits. [0] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-89909-7 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-89909-7
        marcinzm 5y ago
        The links says that 3 pieces of debris attained higher stable orbits (ie: were still around 1-2 years later). There were 400 pieces of debris altogether. So not a large percentage.
        tsimionescu 5y ago
        Sure, but there also haven't yet been any major collisions in orbit. The risk will increase greatly if the huge number of satellites they proposed ever happens.
      - _Microft 5y ago
        > I wouldn't be surprised if SpaceX will turn out to be the reason we won't be able to explore space at all for a few hundred years. You seem to be referring to the Kessler syndrom. If that happened, it would not mean that we could not send probes to space anymore. It only becomes unviable to have satellites at the altitude of the debris field. We could still launch through it into higher orbits or onto interplanetary trajectories.
        tsimionescu 5y ago
        That's true for Kessler Syndrom in LEO, but Kessler Syndrome at higher elevations could prevent orbital space flight entirely, as far as I understand.
  - nickik 5y ago
    Such complete nonsense. Just admit that you have personal problems with those people, because your technical arguments are total nonsense.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]

SpaceX is a functioning business that actually launches things into space at a lower cost than competitors. Basically every successful company has a massive amount of ego behind it but the question is if they actually achieve anything tangible and, eventually, profitable.

pmoriarty 5y ago
"SpaceX is a functioning business that actually launches things into space at a lower cost than competitors." This might actually lead to a greatly increased risk of creating an impenetrable field of space junk if the thousands more satellites that SpaceX launches collide in to one another. If that happens expect SpaceX supporters to start singing a different tune.
- marcinzm 5y ago
  SpaceX is launching its own internet satellites into low orbit so their satellites will only burn up in a decade without boosting. If your argument is "don't progress or change in any way because something bad might happen" then I suspect you'll find few takers on this site.
  - tsimionescu 5y ago
    Collisions in LEO launch debris in all orbits, they are not limited to LEO. I wouldn't be surprised if SpaceX will turn out to be the reason we won't be able to explore space at all for a few hundred years.
    - marcinzm 5y ago
      >Collisions in LEO launch debris in all orbits, they are not limited to LEO. How often? You'd need a pretty lucky collision to knock something into a higher stable circular orbit.
      - tsimionescu 5y ago
        Any collision has a chance to knock things at orbital speeds in any direction. Anything launched away from the earth will be flung towards other orbits at something close to the 28,000km/h speeds of LEO. Here is an article in Nature [0] discussing other risks, and mentioning that LEO is already in the early stages of Kessler Syndrome, while SpaceX alone is seeking to launch as many extra satellites as there are tracked pieces of debris already in orbit, with several other companies having similar plans. They also mention that debris in one orbit can cross to other orbits. [0] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-89909-7 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-89909-7
        marcinzm 5y ago
        The links says that 3 pieces of debris attained higher stable orbits (ie: were still around 1-2 years later). There were 400 pieces of debris altogether. So not a large percentage.
        tsimionescu 5y ago
        Sure, but there also haven't yet been any major collisions in orbit. The risk will increase greatly if the huge number of satellites they proposed ever happens.
    - _Microft 5y ago
      > I wouldn't be surprised if SpaceX will turn out to be the reason we won't be able to explore space at all for a few hundred years. You seem to be referring to the Kessler syndrom. If that happened, it would not mean that we could not send probes to space anymore. It only becomes unviable to have satellites at the altitude of the debris field. We could still launch through it into higher orbits or onto interplanetary trajectories.
      - tsimionescu 5y ago
        That's true for Kessler Syndrom in LEO, but Kessler Syndrome at higher elevations could prevent orbital space flight entirely, as far as I understand.
- nickik 5y ago
  Such complete nonsense. Just admit that you have personal problems with those people, because your technical arguments are total nonsense.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]