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I'd be interested to see what the Arianne 6 turns out like given A5 is now sold out, but it still won't be reusable so high cost despite half an A5, but that do
by _joel 5y ago
I'd be interested to see what the Arianne 6 turns out like given A5 is now sold out, but it still won't be reusable so high cost despite half an A5, but that doesn't matter as their main customer is ESA and they're pretty wedded to them politically.
I'm not aware of any reusable vehicles by ULA and all the current flights are fully booked, they're sold out of their current block. There were only a handful of launches last year, I think Electron actually flew more. For the new, they're waiting for engines from Blue Origin but they'll probably end up using RS as it doesn't look like BO will deliver.
The Russians (and Chinese) are basically copying anything SpaceX in terms of reusable heavy lift, which might be a good plan in the long-term but it's not that innovative.
- jacquesm 5y agoBetter a good copy than a bad original. Copying the leader is smart. Innovation is expensive and risky, something the Chinese are not very well equipped to do (yet) and the Russians can't afford. I think long term if Ariane Space and ULA don't adapt that they'll die unless they keep being subsidized. But if SpaceX manages to reduce cost even further then that will make no sense, it is already very hard to justify.