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When does/do the research/space programs enabled by these more frequent launches start to benefit us all? It must have already contributed to something somehow.

When does/do the research/space programs enabled by these more frequent launches start to benefit us all? It must have already contributed to something somehow. Agriculture? Defense? Oil exploration? Seems like the sort of information that's hard to find.

quest88 4y ago
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_spinoff_technologies https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_spinoff_technologies This doesn't perfectly answer your question.
Spooky23 4y ago
Ukraine has access to world class command and control with it and is leveraging to obliterate the Russian military. People living in areas that telco and cable refuse to serve are finally able to join civilization.
CrazyStat 4y ago
Millions of people are benefiting from Starlink, which is SpaceX's biggest launch customer.
robotresearcher 4y ago
Starlink already provides decent internet to places it didn’t reach before.
fsiefken 4y ago
Falcon9 launched Starlink, without which the course of the Ukraine war might have been significantly different. There's also the plan to pull CO2 from the atmosphere to create rocket fuel. https://labusinessjournal.com/manufacturing/aerospace/big-plans-spacex-2022/ https://labusinessjournal.com/manufacturing/aerospace/big-pl... There's the Dragon 2, the only US human space vehicle in operation, as the Space Shuttle has been retired in 2011 due to expenses and safety issues. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX_Dragon_2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX_Dragon_2
- rep_movsd 4y ago
  - rippercushions 4y ago
    It's quite feasible on Mars, where the concentration of CO2 is much higher (albeit the air is also much thinner), and a cornerstone of SpaceX's plan to produce methane fuel in situ.
  - MichaelCollins 4y ago
    Oh please, it's perfectly feasible. The catch is you need to put more energy in than you get out, and it won't save you any money. But it's not "against the laws of physics and chemistry" (The reason it might be done despite costing more money is mostly PR.)
    - laverya 4y ago
      > (The reason it might be done despite costing more money is mostly PR.) And practice for doing so in locations that have access to water + CO2 but not petroleum refining capabilities, such as Mars.
  - krisoft 4y ago
    I will bite. Why won't the laws of physics and chemistry allow it?
    - TremendousJudge 4y ago
      To be more precise: the laws of physics and chemistry will never allow to pull CO2 from the atmosphere in an energy efficient way The consequence is that, unless all your electricity generation and raw resource extraction needed for the process has basically zero emissions, it's probably better to just use regular fuel. Burning fossil fuels to create fuel that you then burn has more CO2 emissions than just burning fossil fuels once (since you need way less fossil fuel in the first place). And the US grid is, right now, not in path of not burning fossil fuels. So the idea of pulling CO2 from the atmosphere and be carbon neutral doesn't seem plausible. That's my take, anyway.
marcyb5st 4y ago
Starlink? Not sure it would be economically viable without reusing a good deal of equipment
eagerpace 4y ago
There is a lag between the service being available and missions being planned to use it. The US government is finally starting to see the light and is presently benefiting from lower costs and better performance compared to legacy providers. Starlink wouldn't have been possible without this, both competitive constellations are considering using SpaceX for launch services too. This area alone is providing incredible value to humanity already but also doesn't require human capabilities.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
reneherse 4y ago
One benefit is the connectivity provided by Starlink to Ukraine's front line defending forces. Which, amongst other things, increases the quality of reconnaissance, tempo of battle, and should translate to fewer defender and civilian casualties. The long term effects of a more rapid Ukrainian victory (and a dramatic Russian defeat) are difficult to estimate.
s1artibartfast 4y ago
Not sure what kind of impact you are looking for. Nobody is going to show up at your doorstep with a check. That said, you can look around you for a lot impacts. If you really want to be specific to the frequency of launches, increased availability of starlink for indidvidual and military needs.
darknavi 4y ago
Another benefit is the thousands of high paying, high skill jobs this market creates.
polytely 4y ago
it's more just lowering the price of getting things to orbit, so there are certain thresholds that will probably make new businesses viable.
dotnet00 4y ago
What exactly are you referring to? If you mean the satellites, Earth observation satellites run by governments play a big role in things like agriculture by aiding weather predictions. Defense should also be relatively obvious from that (even private Earth observation services are proving helpful to Ukraine for instance). If you mean the rockets, there's the perk of making it easier for smallsats to get rides, enabling all sorts of smaller research/Earth observation and making it easier to train the next generation of talent in the field. If you mean things like Starlink, one thing coming in the next few years that should play a decent role in the world is the idea of cellular connectivity anywhere by direct satellite uplink. It would be extremely low bandwidth, basically text-only, but likely to still be a fairly big deal for monitoring remote environments and for search and rescue purposes.

quest88 4y ago

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_spinoff_technologies https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_spinoff_technologies This doesn't perfectly answer your question.

Spooky23 4y ago

Ukraine has access to world class command and control with it and is leveraging to obliterate the Russian military. People living in areas that telco and cable refuse to serve are finally able to join civilization.

CrazyStat 4y ago

Millions of people are benefiting from Starlink, which is SpaceX's biggest launch customer.

robotresearcher 4y ago

Starlink already provides decent internet to places it didn’t reach before.

fsiefken 4y ago

Falcon9 launched Starlink, without which the course of the Ukraine war might have been significantly different. There's also the plan to pull CO2 from the atmosphere to create rocket fuel. https://labusinessjournal.com/manufacturing/aerospace/big-plans-spacex-2022/ https://labusinessjournal.com/manufacturing/aerospace/big-pl... There's the Dragon 2, the only US human space vehicle in operation, as the Space Shuttle has been retired in 2011 due to expenses and safety issues. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX_Dragon_2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX_Dragon_2

rep_movsd 4y ago
- rippercushions 4y ago
  It's quite feasible on Mars, where the concentration of CO2 is much higher (albeit the air is also much thinner), and a cornerstone of SpaceX's plan to produce methane fuel in situ.
- MichaelCollins 4y ago
  Oh please, it's perfectly feasible. The catch is you need to put more energy in than you get out, and it won't save you any money. But it's not "against the laws of physics and chemistry" (The reason it might be done despite costing more money is mostly PR.)
  - laverya 4y ago
    > (The reason it might be done despite costing more money is mostly PR.) And practice for doing so in locations that have access to water + CO2 but not petroleum refining capabilities, such as Mars.
- krisoft 4y ago
  I will bite. Why won't the laws of physics and chemistry allow it?
  - TremendousJudge 4y ago
    To be more precise: the laws of physics and chemistry will never allow to pull CO2 from the atmosphere in an energy efficient way The consequence is that, unless all your electricity generation and raw resource extraction needed for the process has basically zero emissions, it's probably better to just use regular fuel. Burning fossil fuels to create fuel that you then burn has more CO2 emissions than just burning fossil fuels once (since you need way less fossil fuel in the first place). And the US grid is, right now, not in path of not burning fossil fuels. So the idea of pulling CO2 from the atmosphere and be carbon neutral doesn't seem plausible. That's my take, anyway.

marcyb5st 4y ago

Starlink? Not sure it would be economically viable without reusing a good deal of equipment

eagerpace 4y ago

There is a lag between the service being available and missions being planned to use it. The US government is finally starting to see the light and is presently benefiting from lower costs and better performance compared to legacy providers. Starlink wouldn't have been possible without this, both competitive constellations are considering using SpaceX for launch services too. This area alone is providing incredible value to humanity already but also doesn't require human capabilities.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

reneherse 4y ago

One benefit is the connectivity provided by Starlink to Ukraine's front line defending forces. Which, amongst other things, increases the quality of reconnaissance, tempo of battle, and should translate to fewer defender and civilian casualties. The long term effects of a more rapid Ukrainian victory (and a dramatic Russian defeat) are difficult to estimate.

s1artibartfast 4y ago

Not sure what kind of impact you are looking for. Nobody is going to show up at your doorstep with a check. That said, you can look around you for a lot impacts. If you really want to be specific to the frequency of launches, increased availability of starlink for indidvidual and military needs.

darknavi 4y ago

Another benefit is the thousands of high paying, high skill jobs this market creates.

polytely 4y ago

it's more just lowering the price of getting things to orbit, so there are certain thresholds that will probably make new businesses viable.

dotnet00 4y ago

What exactly are you referring to? If you mean the satellites, Earth observation satellites run by governments play a big role in things like agriculture by aiding weather predictions. Defense should also be relatively obvious from that (even private Earth observation services are proving helpful to Ukraine for instance). If you mean the rockets, there's the perk of making it easier for smallsats to get rides, enabling all sorts of smaller research/Earth observation and making it easier to train the next generation of talent in the field. If you mean things like Starlink, one thing coming in the next few years that should play a decent role in the world is the idea of cellular connectivity anywhere by direct satellite uplink. It would be extremely low bandwidth, basically text-only, but likely to still be a fairly big deal for monitoring remote environments and for search and rescue purposes.