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The US won’t allow that for now because of external competition from China and Russia. That would result in the US losing the current Space Race. EDIT: Probabl

by babesh 5y ago

The US won’t allow that for now because of external competition from China and Russia. That would result in the US losing the current Space Race. EDIT: Probably India as well If SpaceX were Russian, Indian, or Chinese, the US would shit its pants.

krapp 5y ago
There is no "current space race" as far as the US is concerned. Americans put a man on the moon fifty years ago, and no one is worried that China or Russia are going to "gain the high ground" and nuke Washington from orbit. No one cares.
- kelnos 5y ago
  I think you're underestimating things here. These days we have two new milestones: a crewed mission to Mars, and a permanent moon base. The fervor to get there is of course nowhere near what it was like in the 50s and 60s, and I probably wouldn't even call this a new "space race", but the US doesn't want to look weak in matters like this, especially with China's general technological and economic rise over the past decades. I actually think the US hasn't made such a big deal about Mars and the moon because they're afraid China will latch onto that and make it a big deal, and more likely "win". So instead we focus on LEO, ISS, Mars rovers, probes, telescopes, etc. And if China does eventually build a permanent moon base or get a crew to Mars before the US does, the US can claim "cool, good job, but we didn't think it was all that important, so we didn't pursue it as hard as they did". (Note that I believe that Musk pushing hard for Mars is not the same as the US pushing hard for Mars. The US seems more outwardly excited about Musk's ability to cheaply ferry things to and from orbit than anything much farther.)
  - babesh 5y ago
    small satellites, Internet access to remote areas (both military and commercial uses), space tourism, space habitats, competitors to GPS (both military and commercial uses) etc…
- T-A 5y ago
  Here are a few links for you from the last couple of months: https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA943-1.html https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA943-1.html https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/nato-leaders-extend-article-5-mutual-defence-clause-to-space-domain https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/nato-leaders-... https://warontherocks.com/2021/07/updating-space-doctrine-how-to-avoid-world-war-iii/ https://warontherocks.com/2021/07/updating-space-doctrine-ho... https://www.politico.eu/article/us-space-forces-seeks-allies-in-europe-guard-orbit/ https://www.politico.eu/article/us-space-forces-seeks-allies... https://www.gov.uk/government/news/g7-nations-commit-to-the-safe-and-sustainable-use-of-space https://www.gov.uk/government/news/g7-nations-commit-to-the-... https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/15/world/asia/china-russia-space.html https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/15/world/asia/china-russia-s... https://edition.cnn.com/2021/06/21/china/china-us-space-race-mic-intl-hnk/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/2021/06/21/china/china-us-space-race... https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/06/the-us-military-is-starting-to-get-really-interested-in-starship/ https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/06/the-us-military-is-s...
- cryptonector 5y ago
  You think the ability to put up hundreds of sats in one launch is not game changing in commerce and war?? You think Starlink won't give the U.S. a military edge?? Of course there is a space race. And the name of the race is to copy everything SpaceX does.

by babesh 5y ago

krapp 5y ago

There is no "current space race" as far as the US is concerned. Americans put a man on the moon fifty years ago, and no one is worried that China or Russia are going to "gain the high ground" and nuke Washington from orbit. No one cares.

kelnos 5y ago
I think you're underestimating things here. These days we have two new milestones: a crewed mission to Mars, and a permanent moon base. The fervor to get there is of course nowhere near what it was like in the 50s and 60s, and I probably wouldn't even call this a new "space race", but the US doesn't want to look weak in matters like this, especially with China's general technological and economic rise over the past decades. I actually think the US hasn't made such a big deal about Mars and the moon because they're afraid China will latch onto that and make it a big deal, and more likely "win". So instead we focus on LEO, ISS, Mars rovers, probes, telescopes, etc. And if China does eventually build a permanent moon base or get a crew to Mars before the US does, the US can claim "cool, good job, but we didn't think it was all that important, so we didn't pursue it as hard as they did". (Note that I believe that Musk pushing hard for Mars is not the same as the US pushing hard for Mars. The US seems more outwardly excited about Musk's ability to cheaply ferry things to and from orbit than anything much farther.)
- babesh 5y ago
  small satellites, Internet access to remote areas (both military and commercial uses), space tourism, space habitats, competitors to GPS (both military and commercial uses) etc…
T-A 5y ago
Here are a few links for you from the last couple of months: https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA943-1.html https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA943-1.html https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/nato-leaders-extend-article-5-mutual-defence-clause-to-space-domain https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/nato-leaders-... https://warontherocks.com/2021/07/updating-space-doctrine-how-to-avoid-world-war-iii/ https://warontherocks.com/2021/07/updating-space-doctrine-ho... https://www.politico.eu/article/us-space-forces-seeks-allies-in-europe-guard-orbit/ https://www.politico.eu/article/us-space-forces-seeks-allies... https://www.gov.uk/government/news/g7-nations-commit-to-the-safe-and-sustainable-use-of-space https://www.gov.uk/government/news/g7-nations-commit-to-the-... https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/15/world/asia/china-russia-space.html https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/15/world/asia/china-russia-s... https://edition.cnn.com/2021/06/21/china/china-us-space-race-mic-intl-hnk/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/2021/06/21/china/china-us-space-race... https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/06/the-us-military-is-starting-to-get-really-interested-in-starship/ https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/06/the-us-military-is-s...
cryptonector 5y ago
You think the ability to put up hundreds of sats in one launch is not game changing in commerce and war?? You think Starlink won't give the U.S. a military edge?? Of course there is a space race. And the name of the race is to copy everything SpaceX does.