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> Also has an impact in enhancing India's Ballistic Missile strategy used to combat a two-front war [2], because Missiles are to Indian military strategy what D

> Also has an impact in enhancing India's Ballistic Missile strategy used to combat a two-front war [2], because Missiles are to Indian military strategy what Drones are for Chinese military strategy. Almost no one uses liquid fueled Ballistic Missiles any more (I think China is the only one) because they are so operationally terrible. The eventual rocket sounds like it's a hair larger than RocketLab's Electron. Which is struggling to reach profitability after being in its segment for 7-8 years mostly without peer competition. Largely thanks to SpaceX's transporter (and now bandwagon) missions sucking most of the volume out of the market. Making a working rocket is undoubtedly an amazing accomplishment. But at the same time, I really wish that companies stopped making small-lift rockets. There's just no way for them to work financially.

alephnerd 2y ago
> Almost no one uses liquid fueled Ballistic Missiles any more (I think China is the only one) because they are so operationally terrible. India does as well as China. But they are cheap! Very cheap. Read the 3rd article I linked - it's the actual Indian government strategy around BMD.
- nordsieck 2y ago
  > India does as well as China. > But they are cheap! Very cheap. Read the 3rd article I linked - it's the actual Indian government strategy around BMD. The only place that liquid rockets are specifically mentioned: > Scientists are also working towards making interceptors used in both layers operate on solid fuels. This is because chemicals in the liquid fuels corrode the fuel storage tanks easily. Therefore, most of the missiles are not kept in a ‘ready-to-fire’ mode. Also, it takes a minimum of three to four hours to fill the liquid fuel in the missile,9 a hardly acceptable scenario wherein precious time will be lost in case of an emergency. It seems pretty clear that: 1. This particular rocket has no military application because the rockets that India uses use hypergolic propellant (presumably UDMH and NTO), while the planned rocket uses LOx and RP1, which are cryogenic propellants (well, at least the LOx is). 2. India is pretty clearly trying to move away from liquid fueled rockets because, as I said in my previous comment, the operational aspects are really terrible.
philipwhiuk 2y ago
> But at the same time, I really wish that companies stopped making small-lift rockets. There's just no way for them to work financially. Making a small launch vehicle is seen as necessary to attract the level of funding needed for a medium or heavy lift launch vehicle
- nordsieck 2y ago
  > Making a small launch vehicle is seen as necessary to attract the level of funding needed for a medium or heavy lift launch vehicle I get that. But it seems like every VC on the planet had the same idea at the same exact time because there's like 50+ small lift rockets in various stages of development. And approximately 0% of them have a shot at profitability. I have real doubts that any of them that aren't backed by a nation-state will be able to fund raise and survive long enough to build a medium lift rocket on the back of their experience.

alephnerd 2y ago

> Almost no one uses liquid fueled Ballistic Missiles any more (I think China is the only one) because they are so operationally terrible. India does as well as China. But they are cheap! Very cheap. Read the 3rd article I linked - it's the actual Indian government strategy around BMD.

nordsieck 2y ago
> India does as well as China. > But they are cheap! Very cheap. Read the 3rd article I linked - it's the actual Indian government strategy around BMD. The only place that liquid rockets are specifically mentioned: > Scientists are also working towards making interceptors used in both layers operate on solid fuels. This is because chemicals in the liquid fuels corrode the fuel storage tanks easily. Therefore, most of the missiles are not kept in a ‘ready-to-fire’ mode. Also, it takes a minimum of three to four hours to fill the liquid fuel in the missile,9 a hardly acceptable scenario wherein precious time will be lost in case of an emergency. It seems pretty clear that: 1. This particular rocket has no military application because the rockets that India uses use hypergolic propellant (presumably UDMH and NTO), while the planned rocket uses LOx and RP1, which are cryogenic propellants (well, at least the LOx is). 2. India is pretty clearly trying to move away from liquid fueled rockets because, as I said in my previous comment, the operational aspects are really terrible.

philipwhiuk 2y ago

> But at the same time, I really wish that companies stopped making small-lift rockets. There's just no way for them to work financially. Making a small launch vehicle is seen as necessary to attract the level of funding needed for a medium or heavy lift launch vehicle

nordsieck 2y ago
> Making a small launch vehicle is seen as necessary to attract the level of funding needed for a medium or heavy lift launch vehicle I get that. But it seems like every VC on the planet had the same idea at the same exact time because there's like 50+ small lift rockets in various stages of development. And approximately 0% of them have a shot at profitability. I have real doubts that any of them that aren't backed by a nation-state will be able to fund raise and survive long enough to build a medium lift rocket on the back of their experience.