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It's not competitive with SpaceX anymore. The Falcon 9 is cheaper and is launched so often its track record is already comparable.
by WastingMyTime89 3y ago
It's not competitive with SpaceX anymore. The Falcon 9 is cheaper and is launched so often its track record is already comparable.
- malermeister 3y agoIt's not just about market competitiveness. It's also about keeping capabilities in Europe and not being fully dependent on a foreign entity with questionable leadership.
- kjs3 3y ago[flagged]
- malermeister 3y agoNever said anything to the the contrary, no need to be so confrontational.
- WastingMyTime89 3y agoYes but you don’t need two launchers for that, only the latest one. Countries financing its development will want to use as much as possible to bring the cost per launch down. As implied by the comment I’m replying to, the only reason to keep Ariane 5 flying would have been its good track record bringing business on the commercial market but that’s not going to happen because Falcon 9 gets all these customers now.
- sidewndr46 3y agorather ironically, I do not believe there is the possibility of launching the Ariane 5 from Europe.
- hef19898 3y agoThe French spaceport is, despite being close to the equator in latin america, part of the EU. And a rather good location.
- sidewndr46 3y agoI think the problem is in the event of war how do you manage to securely transport a launch vehicle and its payload to South America?
- malermeister 3y agoLooks like there's a space port in Sweden now, too. Doesn't look like they're launching Arianes there yet tho. https://sscspace.com/the-world-watched-the-inauguration-of-spaceport-esrange/ https://sscspace.com/the-world-watched-the-inauguration-of-s...
- The_Colonel 3y agoThere are many scenarios other than war where you want independent launch capability.
- wongarsu 3y agoHow did the US supply Great Britain throughout WWII, and how did they manage to ship their equipment and personnel there to actively fight in the European Theater in the later years of the war? War is full of logistics challenges, and slipping a retrofitted container ship or tanker carrying an Ariane-sized rocket in between other innocent maritime traffic would be one of them. Though the more common scenario in the last century or so seem to be harsh words, boycotts and proxy wars, not total war and sea blockades.
- panick21_ 3y agoThe US did it in WWII because the Royal Navy and the US Navy were the two biggest most powerful navies in the world, specially in the Atlantic. If you think the US would go so far as to block Europe from buying launches on US launchers, then the US could also easily blockade South America. Certainty, blockade is another level to just cutting business ties but its certainty not comparable to WW2.
- Gravityloss 3y agoYou could launch north from say Spain, UK, Norway or their near neighbors if they grant overflight permission. To a polar orbit. To geostationary it's not great (don't know would it even be possible).