2 ms·

>It wil be as cheap to launch a kg to orbit in the next decade, as to ship a pacakge via fedex. What innovation is expected to make this possible? The minimum

>It wil be as cheap to launch a kg to orbit in the next decade, as to ship a pacakge via fedex. What innovation is expected to make this possible? The minimum amounts of fuel and oxygen necessary to leave the atmosphere are fixed, short of a chemistry breakthrough.

pavel_lishin 2y ago
I don't think the person you're responding to was thinking of this, but off the top of my head is the spin-launcher which gives a rocket a "kick", giving it a decent buffer before it has to start worrying about Tsiolkovsky's tyranny.
wkat4242 2y ago
A space elevator maybe?
b112 2y ago
This has been discussed for several years now. There are plans for thousands of Starship launches per year. Heck, there are plans to build thousands of Starships. Starship can launch 200+ tonnes to orbit per launch. That's 200,000 kg metric tonnes. This is the point I'm trying to get across, access to space is about to become very, very, very cheap, and there's a lot of talk about it. https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2024/01/how-will-spacex-bring-the-cost-to-space-down-to-10-per-kilogram-from-over-1000-per-kilogram.html https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2024/01/how-will-spacex-bring-... There are many other similar articles. Everything is going to change at this cost level. Everything. All of these mega-expensive probes are going to morph into cheaper probes. It will be less expensive to experiment, to play, to try new things in space. There are so many sectors in space I am envisioning getting involved in. Heck, with costs like this even a YC startup could have the fiscal might to try experimental methods of mining asteroids. SpaceX is in a particularly envious position, I can envision neuralink enabled astronauts controlling Tesla robots in SpaceX hardware, on site. EG, to reduce lag, and also provide strong direct feedback. Experiments on advanced propulsion systems, especially theoretical ones, need not be "big big big". We can iterate. We can try 1000s of different designs, we can experiment without big budgets. I want to see 100kg of mined ore, unrefined, lifted and automated, weightless methods to refine that ore tried. I want to see an immense range and scope of sensors tested, in space, never tried before. Space born solar panel construction methods tested. The list goes on and on and on. I imagine lagrange points becoming congested with endless stations, sensor platforms. We don't need asteroids back moved back to earth. Imagine latching onto an asteroid, with the ability to refine metal, you can simply build a station there! Multiple mobility methods have been pondered, solar sails, there are endless electrical engines, so multiple mass-driven methods of propulsion can be employed. Travel to/from such stations need not depend upon earth provided propellant, any molecule or atom can be shot out the stern. The cusp of so many things is right on the horizon. The "Internet" age has landed in our laps ~ 2000, and in 2024 is now a saturated market, filled with an immense array of competitors, there is little "new" to be had here. But space? Space is new, just as multiple biotech fields are new. There are enormous opportunities in space, and SpaceX and others following it its wake are building the backbone. We just need to build the "apps".

pavel_lishin 2y ago

I don't think the person you're responding to was thinking of this, but off the top of my head is the spin-launcher which gives a rocket a "kick", giving it a decent buffer before it has to start worrying about Tsiolkovsky's tyranny.

wkat4242 2y ago

A space elevator maybe?

b112 2y ago

This has been discussed for several years now. There are plans for thousands of Starship launches per year. Heck, there are plans to build thousands of Starships. Starship can launch 200+ tonnes to orbit per launch. That's 200,000 kg metric tonnes. This is the point I'm trying to get across, access to space is about to become very, very, very cheap, and there's a lot of talk about it. https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2024/01/how-will-spacex-bring-the-cost-to-space-down-to-10-per-kilogram-from-over-1000-per-kilogram.html https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2024/01/how-will-spacex-bring-... There are many other similar articles. Everything is going to change at this cost level. Everything. All of these mega-expensive probes are going to morph into cheaper probes. It will be less expensive to experiment, to play, to try new things in space. There are so many sectors in space I am envisioning getting involved in. Heck, with costs like this even a YC startup could have the fiscal might to try experimental methods of mining asteroids. SpaceX is in a particularly envious position, I can envision neuralink enabled astronauts controlling Tesla robots in SpaceX hardware, on site. EG, to reduce lag, and also provide strong direct feedback. Experiments on advanced propulsion systems, especially theoretical ones, need not be "big big big". We can iterate. We can try 1000s of different designs, we can experiment without big budgets. I want to see 100kg of mined ore, unrefined, lifted and automated, weightless methods to refine that ore tried. I want to see an immense range and scope of sensors tested, in space, never tried before. Space born solar panel construction methods tested. The list goes on and on and on. I imagine lagrange points becoming congested with endless stations, sensor platforms. We don't need asteroids back moved back to earth. Imagine latching onto an asteroid, with the ability to refine metal, you can simply build a station there! Multiple mobility methods have been pondered, solar sails, there are endless electrical engines, so multiple mass-driven methods of propulsion can be employed. Travel to/from such stations need not depend upon earth provided propellant, any molecule or atom can be shot out the stern. The cusp of so many things is right on the horizon. The "Internet" age has landed in our laps ~ 2000, and in 2024 is now a saturated market, filled with an immense array of competitors, there is little "new" to be had here. But space? Space is new, just as multiple biotech fields are new. There are enormous opportunities in space, and SpaceX and others following it its wake are building the backbone. We just need to build the "apps".