21–30 of 69 posts
SpaceX had to use a fully expendable Falcon for this launch. What makes a GPS satellite so heavy?
Did they originally intend to use a bigger rocket? It seems unlike them to throw one away at any price.
no employee protests against DOD projects :)
no employee protests against DOD projects :)
yeh cause doing DOD projects from an American Company to increase GPS is a good thing
SpaceX is taking defense money to launch satellites that are primarily for military use in guiding platforms that deliver things to lethal terminal effect. That's just as martial as Raytheon building the Tomahawk guidance module.
Thought experiment: would SpaceX take Russian money to launch GLONASS birds? I'd wager not because it would be 'immoral'.
How is an upgraded GPS satellite a “national security” mission? Yes, I understand that precise and reliable global navigation is essential to fighting wars and guided weapons, but such uses pale in comparison to the billions of people who rely on GPS every day to do non-war, non-USA stuff. It is neither national nor security. Or do they just mean “in the role of defense contractor”?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Inclination changes are very "expensive" in terms of delta-V: https://www.google.com/search?q=plane+change+delta+v&ie=utf-...
Interesting. It makes sense then to launch such satellites closer to poles. That explains why there are plans in Norway to build a space launching site at around 70 latitude near Tromsø.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Still SpaceX routinely recovers the first stage after launching geostationary communication satellites. I thought GPS should be lighter as they are closer to Earth and needs to send much less information in their signal, so the power requirements and size of Solar panels should be lower.
This sattelite was some 8000kgs, vs. 4000-ish kgs for the previous-generation GPS satellites, if I remember correctly.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
yeh cause doing DOD projects from an American Company to increase GPS is a good thing
Not for those on the receiving end of JDAMs SpaceX is taking defense money to launch satellites that are primarily for military use in guiding platforms that deliver things to lethal terminal effect. That's just as martial as Raytheon building the Tomahawk guidance module. Thought experiment: would SpaceX take Russian money to launch GLONASS birds? I'd wager not because it would be 'immoral'.
Sort of like the US interstate highway system. Military use got the budget to build it, secondary use ends up being more important.
How is an upgraded GPS satellite a “national security” mission? Yes, I understand that precise and reliable global navigation is essential to fighting wars and guided weapons, but such uses pale in comparison to the billions of people who rely on GPS every day to do non-war, non-USA stuff. It is neither national nor security. Or do they just mean “in the role of defense contractor”?
GPS is lofted and maintained by the DoD. It's primary purpose is military. It would not exist as a free service without DoD's investment. Other satellite constellations with far fewer sats cost considerable amounts of money to use, and few of our modern applications for GPS would be very appealing at $xxx a month. Civillian GPS is a generous charity from US taxpayers to the rest of the world
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Interesting. It makes sense then to launch such satellites closer to poles. That explains why there are plans in Norway to build a space launching site at around 70 latitude near Tromsø.
I think it is mostly about the path the rocket is allowed to travel during launch. In the US, for equatorial orbits, one launches from Cape Kennedy to the east, and for polar from Vandenburg to the south. Maybe off angle launches aren't allowed so a lot of correction is needed after the satellite reaches orbit to get to an inclined orbit? I am not an orbital mechanics specialist or space launch planner. Corrective co…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
yeh cause doing DOD projects from an American Company to increase GPS is a good thing
Not for those on the receiving end of JDAMs SpaceX is taking defense money to launch satellites that are primarily for military use in guiding platforms that deliver things to lethal terminal effect. That's just as martial as Raytheon building the Tomahawk guidance module. Thought experiment: would SpaceX take Russian money to launch GLONASS birds? I'd wager not because it would be 'immoral'.
I would not want to work on a weapons system but I’d have no problem working on something like GPS.
I see no evidence for the conclusion to your thought experiment. You can’t just make up a conclusion to support your argument, it needs to actually be based on something.