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I don’t think that’s really a fair assessment. Yes Space-X has had the most launches and gets the most press, but the US has a very healthy launch industry. h

by tw04 2y ago

I don’t think that’s really a fair assessment. Yes Space-X has had the most launches and gets the most press, but the US has a very healthy launch industry. https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/12/top-us-launch-companies-of-2022-the-ars-technica-power-ranking/ https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/12/top-us-launch-compan...

AdamJacobMuller 2y ago
The thing is, it's not even remotely close. SpaceX had 98 launches in 2023. ULA, the closest competitor, had 3. For all of these others, considering that this article is from 2022, how many of them even still exist? Don't get me wrong, I hope SpaceX gets some stiff competition because I believe that competition breeds innovation. At the moment, however, I have no idea where that is going to come from or when it might reasonably come.
- TulliusCicero 2y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Electron_launches https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Electron_launches ?
  - blkhawk 2y ago
    Maybe he meant "copetitors at the same scale"- At oleast thats how I read it.
- perilunar 2y ago
  > I hope SpaceX gets some stiff competition because I believe that competition breeds innovation They are the competition and the innovation. I don't see them slacking off until they get to Mars at least.
- tw04 2y ago
  So you didn't click the link? Because ULA wasn't second, rocket labs had 9 launches last year and 24 scheduled this year. As I said, the launch industry in the US is robust.
  - lupusreal 2y ago
    When/if SpaceX gets Starship operational, small outfits like Rocket Lab won't be able to compete. ULA will probably survive in some form though either due to being a well established in Washington (read: old trusted corruption), or through a merger with Blue Origin (read: bailed out by Bezos.)
  - AdamJacobMuller 2y ago
    I did? No. 1: SpaceX No. 2: United Launch Alliance From TFA Even if you're right, having 1 company with 10x of the #2 is not what I would describe as healthy.
adolph 2y ago
> the US has a very healthy launch industry. What would a healthy launch industry look like? I don't think that 2022 article necessarily describes one. There is the long bet that won (SpaceX, reuse), the dino (ULA), a NZ transplant still mostly launching outside the US (RocketLab), some hopeful looking startups and always over the horizon Blue Origin. This is a much better situation than the EU caught between the unpalatable antique (Soyuz) and the sailboat waiting for a cargo (Ariane 6). However, it doesn't seem as healthy as the Chinese launch industry, which seems to have many providers launching and iterating with differentiated designs [0], bread-and-butter heavy launches from Long Marches (48 in 2023) [1] and continued work with the Tiangong space station [2]. It doesn't quite compute for me that commies don't have everything under proletarian central control, but they sure seem to be letting a hundred flowers bloom for now. 0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_space_program#List_of_launchers_and_projects https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_space_program#List_of_... 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Long_March_launches_(2020%E2%80%932029)#2023 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Long_March_launches_(2... 2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiangong_space_station https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiangong_space_station 3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundred_Flowers_Campaign https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundred_Flowers_Campaign

by tw04 2y ago

AdamJacobMuller 2y ago

The thing is, it's not even remotely close. SpaceX had 98 launches in 2023. ULA, the closest competitor, had 3. For all of these others, considering that this article is from 2022, how many of them even still exist? Don't get me wrong, I hope SpaceX gets some stiff competition because I believe that competition breeds innovation. At the moment, however, I have no idea where that is going to come from or when it might reasonably come.

TulliusCicero 2y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Electron_launches https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Electron_launches ?
- blkhawk 2y ago
  Maybe he meant "copetitors at the same scale"- At oleast thats how I read it.
perilunar 2y ago
> I hope SpaceX gets some stiff competition because I believe that competition breeds innovation They are the competition and the innovation. I don't see them slacking off until they get to Mars at least.
tw04 2y ago
So you didn't click the link? Because ULA wasn't second, rocket labs had 9 launches last year and 24 scheduled this year. As I said, the launch industry in the US is robust.
- lupusreal 2y ago
  When/if SpaceX gets Starship operational, small outfits like Rocket Lab won't be able to compete. ULA will probably survive in some form though either due to being a well established in Washington (read: old trusted corruption), or through a merger with Blue Origin (read: bailed out by Bezos.)
- AdamJacobMuller 2y ago
  I did? No. 1: SpaceX No. 2: United Launch Alliance From TFA Even if you're right, having 1 company with 10x of the #2 is not what I would describe as healthy.

adolph 2y ago

> the US has a very healthy launch industry. What would a healthy launch industry look like? I don't think that 2022 article necessarily describes one. There is the long bet that won (SpaceX, reuse), the dino (ULA), a NZ transplant still mostly launching outside the US (RocketLab), some hopeful looking startups and always over the horizon Blue Origin. This is a much better situation than the EU caught between the unpalatable antique (Soyuz) and the sailboat waiting for a cargo (Ariane 6). However, it doesn't seem as healthy as the Chinese launch industry, which seems to have many providers launching and iterating with differentiated designs [0], bread-and-butter heavy launches from Long Marches (48 in 2023) [1] and continued work with the Tiangong space station [2]. It doesn't quite compute for me that commies don't have everything under proletarian central control, but they sure seem to be letting a hundred flowers bloom for now. 0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_space_program#List_of_launchers_and_projects https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_space_program#List_of_... 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Long_March_launches_(2020%E2%80%932029)#2023 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Long_March_launches_(2... 2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiangong_space_station https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiangong_space_station 3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundred_Flowers_Campaign https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundred_Flowers_Campaign