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Starbase, LA

spacex.com

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Re: Starbase, LA

#341

Post by 9dev »

PoignardAzur wrote: post #324
tristanj wrote: post #200

So this is official after months of speculation. Local realtors called this back in May https://x.com/SERobinsonJr/status/2051440979878559829 , and Ars Technica covered these rumors earlier this month https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/08/spacex-is-set-to-acqui... . The Louisiana location has two major benefits: Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO) Access : Launches into SSO have a launch angle of ~98° relative to the equator…

> Gulf of America Do people actually use that name when Trump can't force them to on pain of job loss? I'm pretty sure nobody outside the US does, at the very least.

And for good reason. It’s an insult to the rest of the world.

Re: Starbase, LA

#342

Post by zzrrt »

modeless wrote: post #336
zzrrt wrote: post #332

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait, is hyperloop not a Musk failure because he never said he would build it, or is it not a failure because his company is still building it? You've said both.

What they're building in Vegas is not a hyperloop.

I see my logical flaw and agree (to the specific arguments about tunnels made in this subthread), though I made an adjacent post showing Musk later expressed intent to build a hyperloop in DC, so you can't also say he never claimed to try.

Re: Starbase, LA

#343

Post by api »

consensus1 wrote: post #313
rurp wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Few Americans have done more than musk to destroy state capacity and to enable corruption on a massive scale, all while enriching himself to an unprecedented degree. That's great for him and his cronies that he has gotten so wealthy doing it, but he's been a huge net-negative to most humans. I get that rockets are cool and a lot of people in the tech bubble think that starlink is the greatest thing ever, but most peo…

So where is the guy who is respectful to the government and compliant with regulations that is out there building millions of EVs, rockets, and massive satellite constellations? If he existed I could respect your argument. But in reality the only guy who seems to be able to build a modern mass manufacturing company in the US is the trillionaire who runs roughshod over all forms of government oversight that gets in hi…

I think the root of the problem is “vetocracy.” We’ve created a system where small minorities can hold everything up, sometimes for ideological reasons and sometimes for financial reasons. The classic case of the latter is homeowners opposing all home construction to raise their property values, but it happens in other areas too.

Vetocracy isn’t democracy. It’s a tiny minority having veto power.

So yes the only person who succeeds in such a system is a human battering ram who can just bash their way through it by being a manic asshole with insane force of will.

There should be tons of Elon Musks, including nicer ones, but nice people get vetoed.

Re: Starbase, LA

#344

Post by UltraSane »

ggreer wrote: post #319
jubilanti wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And whether you can radiate all that heat in the vacuum of space

If orbital compute fails, it won't be due to heat issues. Current radiators are around 8kg per square meter, and each square meter can radiate close to 1kW. So a 1 megawatt satellite would need less than 40 square meters of radiators weighing around 300kg. And that assumes there won't be any improvements in radiator efficiency. The outcome is almost entirely determined by launch costs.

You need both enormous solar panels and radiator panels. 1MW needs about 7000 square meters of solar panels. This would require 1,500 square meters of radiator panels along with a lot of coolant pipes that have to be kept edge on to the sun at all times. And all of this will require thousands of kilograms of structural support.

Re: Starbase, LA

#345

Post by modeless »

wat10000 wrote: post #331
modeless wrote: post #281

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's far from abandoned. They're actively building TBMs at their factory and tunneling in Vegas and it's pretty different from any other transportation project I'm aware of.

DC to Baltimore tunnel, LA tunnel network, Chicago airport tunnel. New Roadster, possibly Tesla Semi. Battery swap stations. “Alien dreadnaught” factory with no humans on the production line. Dragon 2 propulsive landing. Self-driving ought to qualify at least partially, because although the project continues and is doing quite well, a huge number of cars were sold with hardware that was promised to be capable of it a…

TBC is still pursuing government permits and contracts to build tunnels. Not having succeeded in every case is not the same as abandoning the project.

The new roadster is delayed, not abandoned. It's known to be in active development and is very likely to be demoed this year. Wrong timeline but not abandoned.

The Tesla semi is on the road daily and the factory to build large quantities is almost complete. They're hosting a "factory inauguration" event next month. Certainly not abandoned.

Tesla has already committed to replacing hardware as necessary on cars that purchased FSD in the past so that they can run unsupervised as promised, after Tesla has unsupervised FSD working. Certainly the timeline was wrong but again, clearly not abandoned.

Re: Starbase, LA

#346

Post by ColdStream »

PoignardAzur wrote: post #324
tristanj wrote: post #200

So this is official after months of speculation. Local realtors called this back in May https://x.com/SERobinsonJr/status/2051440979878559829 , and Ars Technica covered these rumors earlier this month https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/08/spacex-is-set-to-acqui... . The Louisiana location has two major benefits: Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO) Access : Launches into SSO have a launch angle of ~98° relative to the equator…

> Gulf of America Do people actually use that name when Trump can't force them to on pain of job loss? I'm pretty sure nobody outside the US does, at the very least.

Nope, nobody I know has ever called it that. Don's latest spat has him wanting to change Lake Ontario to Lake of America. I did get a good laugh out of that because of how petty it is.

Re: Starbase, LA

#348

Post by UltraSane »

ericmay wrote: post #94
UltraSane wrote: post #52

Musk has done a huge amount to put us INTO this situation.

Which situation did Elon Musk put us in to? Can you elaborate? When did this situation start? What happened? What did he personally do that put us in the situation?

The one with the intentionally broken federal government

Re: Starbase, LA

#349

Post by doc_ick »

hparadiz wrote: post #167
fatal94 wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This sums up my and many others timeline of his understanding of engineering diciplines: https://mastodon.social/@rodhilton/109572674700288958

Posts like this is why HN is made fun of now in circles where real engineering happens. In reality you would not be able to follow what he's talking about because it would be well over your head.

At one point didn’t he say there was no sql in Twitter? I can follow that all the way to the dumpster that statement is.

Re: Starbase, LA

#350

Post by api »

XorNot wrote: post #335
api wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s just a microcosm of everything. The culture war ate the entire public discourse to the exclusion of practical concerns and even coherent ideas. It’s all vibes and tribalism and bashing the other tribes, while the tribes themselves become increasingly incoherent in terms of what (if anything) they really mean or stand for. I just turned it all off, though it makes me fear for the future. Feels like the early st…

Okay but Musk himself deliberately and continuously uses his companies and wealth to participate in the culture war so it's no surprise it comes up when his companies do. He could switch off and stick to building rockets and electric cars. It's very easy (notionally) to just not post on Twitter.

Yes he does, and he’s also a social media addict. With X the alcoholic bought the bar.
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