4 ms·

I have been one of the more negative folks on SpaceX over the years - there are still big issues with some of their bigger long term claims, however... they sur

I have been one of the more negative folks on SpaceX over the years - there are still big issues with some of their bigger long term claims, however... they sure are doing a damn good job nowadays of just getting to business and making it happen. Steve jobs said it best - Real Artist ship. SpaceX is shipping and getting really good at it. Kudos to all the folks that have made it happen.

anonporridge 4y ago
"Shoot for Mars, and if you miss, you'll still end up building a globally dominant rocket company that puts the most powerful nation states to shame and revolutionizes human civilization." ...I think the saying goes something like that.
- HWR_14 4y ago
  > revolutionizes human civilization That's overselling putting some satellites in orbit. It's going to help isolated people get internet, and maybe support some science missions, but mostly it's going to be orbiting satellites for other people.
  - palata 4y ago
    One country unilaterally decides that it is fine to pollute the sky for everyone else in the name of profit. One company decides to produce more and more without giving a damn about their ecological impact, in the name of profit. Hardly sounds like a revolution to me.
    - oxplot 4y ago
      > One country unilaterally decides that it is fine to pollute the sky for everyone else in the name of profit. One country allows the entire world to use its global navigation system "for free", build businesses on that technology, save people's lives and benefit from it. One company brings usable Internet connection, the electricity of the 21st century, to anywhere in the world, with a fixed price, often lower than the existing inferior or non-existing ones. > One company decides to produce more and more without giving a damn about their ecological impact, in the name of profit. One company will have accelerated our escape from extinction. > in the name of profit If Space was such a profitable industry, it'd be as crowded as ad and social network markets. It's the exact opposite. To claim it's all for profit, is to admit you shouldn't be trusted with anything money related, as you'd probably lose it all in a blink.
      - palata 4y ago
        Oh right, the US built GPS, one of the few GNSS systems out there! Yeah my bad, then private US companies should be allowed to pollute space, it's not the problem of the rest of the world! > One company will have accelerated our escape from extinction You mean by sending a few chosen people in space? Or do you believe that connecting smart devices to satellites will somehow solve the climate crisis? xD > it'd be as crowded as ad and social network What's your definition of crowded? I don't feel like there are thousands of successful social networks or ad companies out there... But I get your point: SpaceX is a nonprofit with the purpose of solving the climate crisis by launching as many rockets as they can to fill the sky with satellites. No profit planned, no investors, nothing. My mistake.
        oxplot 4y ago
        > Oh right, the US built GPS, one of the few GNSS systems out there! When US opened up GPS for civilian use, there was NO other GNSS. Other GNSSes exist BECAUSE of GPS. > You mean by sending a few chosen people in space? This is how every new thing starts. Do you think people one day had no cars and then suddenly a billion people were driving cars the next day? No! It started with a few who had the money and believed in the future to invest in cars, and further few who could afford to buy cars and were OK with the initial dangerous, horribly unreliable vehicles that the most ill horse of the time would be superior to. If you read up on the history of literally any tech, that's how they start, and literally that's how they are received (e.g. waste of money, more important things to do, few chosen ones, etc.). > I don't feel like there are thousands of successful social networks Your feelings bears nothing on reality. Go do a app search for dating/social apps and you'll see hundreds, with dozens being pretty successful. > But I get your point: SpaceX is a nonprofit with the purpose of solving the climate crisis No non-profit will ever solve anything at this magnitude, by definition. This is what it boils down to: - You need to have a plan to make profit - in order to attract investors to give you money, - so you can pay talented people to join your cause. Yes some of your employees are there because they believe in the cause and they're fine with lower pay. But that's a minority. Majority of your workforce will want challenge and good pay or you'll lose them to the competition making social network apps for iPhone. I'm baffled that most people can't follow this simple logic. > My mistake. Never too late to learn.
  - winReInstall 4y ago
    Ukraine using starlink begs to differ
  - oxplot 4y ago
    > That's overselling putting some satellites in orbit. GP is talking about the future. The future is what people are working towards and planning for at SpaceX. This of course goes right over most people's heads as most people are consumed by their immediate life (and rightly so). But you're actually understating even the current state of things: - First of all, "just" putting satellites in orbit has revolutionized human civilization time and time again. Global navigation, accurate time keeping, weather prediction, communication, physics research, disaster response, and that's just from top of my head. Cost of launching satellites often exceed the satellite development and build itself. SpaceX has improved on that immensely and continues to do so. - SpaceX puts people into orbit and brings them back down safely. It's the only non-government organisation in the world to do so, and to do so for significantly lower cost. > It's going to help isolated people get internet Starlink is already helping 40000+ people in Ukraine to be informed in middle of a war! Starlink is also going to be installed on airliners which will allow far better monitoring and metric collection should the airlines want to use it for. This will greatly improve crash investigations in absence of the black box.
oxplot 4y ago
Elon recently in an interview with Tim Dodd, said: "At SpaceX, we make the impossible late". In hindsight, nothing is impossible but before SpaceX did any of the routine things they do now, everyone said it was impossible: private company getting to orbit; landing rockets back on earth (let alone on a floating ship in the middle of the ocean); etc. So if history is any lesson, when SpaceX makes a claim, one has to pay real good attention to details and question all their own assumptions hard because these guys have made impossible possible time and again.

anonporridge 4y ago

"Shoot for Mars, and if you miss, you'll still end up building a globally dominant rocket company that puts the most powerful nation states to shame and revolutionizes human civilization." ...I think the saying goes something like that.

HWR_14 4y ago
> revolutionizes human civilization That's overselling putting some satellites in orbit. It's going to help isolated people get internet, and maybe support some science missions, but mostly it's going to be orbiting satellites for other people.
- palata 4y ago
  One country unilaterally decides that it is fine to pollute the sky for everyone else in the name of profit. One company decides to produce more and more without giving a damn about their ecological impact, in the name of profit. Hardly sounds like a revolution to me.
  - oxplot 4y ago
    > One country unilaterally decides that it is fine to pollute the sky for everyone else in the name of profit. One country allows the entire world to use its global navigation system "for free", build businesses on that technology, save people's lives and benefit from it. One company brings usable Internet connection, the electricity of the 21st century, to anywhere in the world, with a fixed price, often lower than the existing inferior or non-existing ones. > One company decides to produce more and more without giving a damn about their ecological impact, in the name of profit. One company will have accelerated our escape from extinction. > in the name of profit If Space was such a profitable industry, it'd be as crowded as ad and social network markets. It's the exact opposite. To claim it's all for profit, is to admit you shouldn't be trusted with anything money related, as you'd probably lose it all in a blink.
    - palata 4y ago
      Oh right, the US built GPS, one of the few GNSS systems out there! Yeah my bad, then private US companies should be allowed to pollute space, it's not the problem of the rest of the world! > One company will have accelerated our escape from extinction You mean by sending a few chosen people in space? Or do you believe that connecting smart devices to satellites will somehow solve the climate crisis? xD > it'd be as crowded as ad and social network What's your definition of crowded? I don't feel like there are thousands of successful social networks or ad companies out there... But I get your point: SpaceX is a nonprofit with the purpose of solving the climate crisis by launching as many rockets as they can to fill the sky with satellites. No profit planned, no investors, nothing. My mistake.
      - oxplot 4y ago
        > Oh right, the US built GPS, one of the few GNSS systems out there! When US opened up GPS for civilian use, there was NO other GNSS. Other GNSSes exist BECAUSE of GPS. > You mean by sending a few chosen people in space? This is how every new thing starts. Do you think people one day had no cars and then suddenly a billion people were driving cars the next day? No! It started with a few who had the money and believed in the future to invest in cars, and further few who could afford to buy cars and were OK with the initial dangerous, horribly unreliable vehicles that the most ill horse of the time would be superior to. If you read up on the history of literally any tech, that's how they start, and literally that's how they are received (e.g. waste of money, more important things to do, few chosen ones, etc.). > I don't feel like there are thousands of successful social networks Your feelings bears nothing on reality. Go do a app search for dating/social apps and you'll see hundreds, with dozens being pretty successful. > But I get your point: SpaceX is a nonprofit with the purpose of solving the climate crisis No non-profit will ever solve anything at this magnitude, by definition. This is what it boils down to: - You need to have a plan to make profit - in order to attract investors to give you money, - so you can pay talented people to join your cause. Yes some of your employees are there because they believe in the cause and they're fine with lower pay. But that's a minority. Majority of your workforce will want challenge and good pay or you'll lose them to the competition making social network apps for iPhone. I'm baffled that most people can't follow this simple logic. > My mistake. Never too late to learn.
- winReInstall 4y ago
  Ukraine using starlink begs to differ
- oxplot 4y ago
  > That's overselling putting some satellites in orbit. GP is talking about the future. The future is what people are working towards and planning for at SpaceX. This of course goes right over most people's heads as most people are consumed by their immediate life (and rightly so). But you're actually understating even the current state of things: - First of all, "just" putting satellites in orbit has revolutionized human civilization time and time again. Global navigation, accurate time keeping, weather prediction, communication, physics research, disaster response, and that's just from top of my head. Cost of launching satellites often exceed the satellite development and build itself. SpaceX has improved on that immensely and continues to do so. - SpaceX puts people into orbit and brings them back down safely. It's the only non-government organisation in the world to do so, and to do so for significantly lower cost. > It's going to help isolated people get internet Starlink is already helping 40000+ people in Ukraine to be informed in middle of a war! Starlink is also going to be installed on airliners which will allow far better monitoring and metric collection should the airlines want to use it for. This will greatly improve crash investigations in absence of the black box.

oxplot 4y ago

Elon recently in an interview with Tim Dodd, said: "At SpaceX, we make the impossible late". In hindsight, nothing is impossible but before SpaceX did any of the routine things they do now, everyone said it was impossible: private company getting to orbit; landing rockets back on earth (let alone on a floating ship in the middle of the ocean); etc. So if history is any lesson, when SpaceX makes a claim, one has to pay real good attention to details and question all their own assumptions hard because these guys have made impossible possible time and again.