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In this context, how does the business side of things look like with such large projects? What happens if their revenue optimization software calculates that U

by mrtksn 9mo ago

In this context, how does the business side of things look like with such large projects? What happens if their revenue optimization software calculates that US can actually pay much more for much less? With the liberalization of infrastructure things like that happen, in Europe trains are infamous for getting shittier with privatizations and nationalization becomes political topic. IIRC Texas grid had become crazy expensive in a cold winters some years ago, people dying or paying crazy prices. Then there's the case of the investors going political, at some point Elon Musk threatened halting projects essential for the US government when he had a public fight with Trump. What happens if China leaps ahead by not seeking profits of all this? Is there a mechanism to force US private space companies not to seek profits or cap profits? Sure SLS costs vs SpaceX are infamous but private ownership doesn't necessarily guarantee success considering that Boeing failed miserably both with NASA contracts and fully commercial operations. Brave new world I guess, if it doesn't pan out there are the Chinese and the Russians.

kmmlng 9mo ago
You have a point. I would further add that private ownership of these things requires capital concentration that cannot be healthy for society. On the other hand, are we replacing public with private infrastructure here or is the private sector filling gaps where we didn't have any public infrastructure before in the first place?
Anonyneko 9mo ago
Russian space program is in the gutter, and by the looks of things the decline is going to continue in the foreseeable future. So I would rather say China and India.
wongarsu 9mo ago
> What happens if China leaps ahead by not seeking profits of all this? Isn't this essentially where we are right now? In this century China has launched three crewed space stations, the rest of the world has launched zero. (Bigelow launched two demonstrators, but they were never crewed). The US has a lot of stations that should go up this or next year in response to the ISS retiring, meanwhile China is quietly operating their current station since 2021 I am confident that at least one of the US programs will succeed. But right now the US doesn't have the lead

by mrtksn 9mo ago

kmmlng 9mo ago

You have a point. I would further add that private ownership of these things requires capital concentration that cannot be healthy for society. On the other hand, are we replacing public with private infrastructure here or is the private sector filling gaps where we didn't have any public infrastructure before in the first place?

Anonyneko 9mo ago

Russian space program is in the gutter, and by the looks of things the decline is going to continue in the foreseeable future. So I would rather say China and India.

wongarsu 9mo ago

> What happens if China leaps ahead by not seeking profits of all this? Isn't this essentially where we are right now? In this century China has launched three crewed space stations, the rest of the world has launched zero. (Bigelow launched two demonstrators, but they were never crewed). The US has a lot of stations that should go up this or next year in response to the ISS retiring, meanwhile China is quietly operating their current station since 2021 I am confident that at least one of the US programs will succeed. But right now the US doesn't have the lead