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2% of a big number is still a big number. 62M to launch. 250-500k per satellite. That's $72M to $82M down the toilet. Given median per-person income is around

by hajile 5y ago

2% of a big number is still a big number. 62M to launch. 250-500k per satellite. That's $72M to $82M down the toilet. Given median per-person income is around $36k, that represents over 2,000 man-years of loss. There are less than 30,000 people out of 7,900,000,000 in the entire world worth more than 100M. You could buy around 20 windmills and power 15,000 entire homes per year with that money (or around 40,000 homes with natural gas).

JaimeThompson 5y ago
What Bezos is paying for his boat could pay for all of that 6 times over.
ineedasername 5y ago
It might not be the full $62M though. SpaceX often launches other payloads at the same time. I recall one that sent off a couple of BlackSky says at the same time. I don't know what % of the payload that constitutes though, and as I write this out I realize that I'm probably splitting hairs...
- hajile 5y ago
  https://spaceflightnow.com/2022/01/06/spacex-deploys-49-more-starlink-satellites-in-first-launch-of-2022/ https://spaceflightnow.com/2022/01/06/spacex-deploys-49-more... This had 48 satellites, so definitely a dedicated launch.
  - ineedasername 5y ago
    The launch I referenced with BlackSky also had 48 satelites: https://www.satellitetoday.com/launch/2021/12/02/spacex-launches-starlink-batch-with-2-rideshare-blacksky-satellites/ https://www.satellitetoday.com/launch/2021/12/02/spacex-laun... I didn't find a quick # of lift capacity of Falcon 9 to LEO in reusable mode, but SpaceX has stated >= 60% capacity in reusable mode. LEO in non-reusable mode has about 23,000kg, so there could be a fair bit of headroom for extra mass in LEO reusable mode even with 48 starlink sats. Admittedly, probably not enough to really change the magnitude of the GGP's calculations.
archon810 5y ago
The bigger question I would be asking right now is if it happened this time with 40, who is to say it won't happen with 100 next time and what is being done to prevent it in the future?

by hajile 5y ago

JaimeThompson 5y ago

What Bezos is paying for his boat could pay for all of that 6 times over.

ineedasername 5y ago

It might not be the full $62M though. SpaceX often launches other payloads at the same time. I recall one that sent off a couple of BlackSky says at the same time. I don't know what % of the payload that constitutes though, and as I write this out I realize that I'm probably splitting hairs...

hajile 5y ago
https://spaceflightnow.com/2022/01/06/spacex-deploys-49-more-starlink-satellites-in-first-launch-of-2022/ https://spaceflightnow.com/2022/01/06/spacex-deploys-49-more... This had 48 satellites, so definitely a dedicated launch.
- ineedasername 5y ago
  The launch I referenced with BlackSky also had 48 satelites: https://www.satellitetoday.com/launch/2021/12/02/spacex-launches-starlink-batch-with-2-rideshare-blacksky-satellites/ https://www.satellitetoday.com/launch/2021/12/02/spacex-laun... I didn't find a quick # of lift capacity of Falcon 9 to LEO in reusable mode, but SpaceX has stated >= 60% capacity in reusable mode. LEO in non-reusable mode has about 23,000kg, so there could be a fair bit of headroom for extra mass in LEO reusable mode even with 48 starlink sats. Admittedly, probably not enough to really change the magnitude of the GGP's calculations.

archon810 5y ago

The bigger question I would be asking right now is if it happened this time with 40, who is to say it won't happen with 100 next time and what is being done to prevent it in the future?