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SpaceX Launches 19th Rocket in a Year, a Company Record

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Re: SpaceX Launches 19th Rocket in a Year, a Company Record

#71

Post by benj111 »

ajmurmann wrote: post #52
benj111 wrote: post #9

So the 'steamroller' is now up to speed. Does anyone have any ideas if Spacex will actually grow the launch market, rather than just dominate. What new things become possible with lower cost access to space. Spacex are developing communications satellites for internet, what else? Edit: Thanks for all the replies so far, I was thinking more down to earth (di dum ch) things rather than theoretically possible. Eg I know…

They also proposed super fast intercontinental travel via BFR. I think they claimed something like ~20m NYC to Shanghai travel time.

Unfortunately it would have the Ryanair problem of 'Shanghai' spaceport being somewhere in the Gobi desert. And 'NYC' spaceport being somewhere in the Nevada desert, so the journey will still take 12 hours.

Plus I can't see China accepting US owned ballistic trajectory rockets firing at their major cities.

Re: SpaceX Launches 19th Rocket in a Year, a Company Record

#72

Post by Rebelgecko »

benj111 wrote: post #9

So the 'steamroller' is now up to speed. Does anyone have any ideas if Spacex will actually grow the launch market, rather than just dominate. What new things become possible with lower cost access to space. Spacex are developing communications satellites for internet, what else? Edit: Thanks for all the replies so far, I was thinking more down to earth (di dum ch) things rather than theoretically possible. Eg I know…

It's becoming a lot more economical to launch small payloads, which has led to an increase in noncommercial payloads. Some of these are research-y (like university projects, or a tomato growing testbed that Germany sent up on this rocket).

Some are less practical. This particular launch had 2 cubesat art projects. One is a reflector designed to be highly visible in the night sky, sponsored by the Nevada Museum of Art. The other is a golden canopic jar purportedly containing the soul of the first African-American astronaut (who died before going to space). That one is from the LA County Museum of Art (not to be confused with a different commercial cubesat also on the rocket, which contains the physical remains of many deceased people).

I don't know how much of the lowered cost for these payloads is due to cheaper launches in general, or benefits of ridesharing.

Re: SpaceX Launches 19th Rocket in a Year, a Company Record

#73

Post by derekp7 »

bluGill wrote: post #59
jankeymeulen wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People keep say astroid mining but I've yet to see a convincing business case...

What are we proposing to mine? The business case for platinum is easy to make if there is a quantity of relatively pure ore. The business case for iron is hard to make. Unfortunately iron is common on earth and on asteroids (I'm confident in making that statement without looking it up so I guess I could be wrong). Platinum is rare on earth and in great demand, and seems to be just as rare in space. I can come up with…

Iron in space is worth a lot more than iron on earth. It is expensive to get that iron from earth into space. Possibly cheaper to get it from asteroids to earth orbit, or the moon for building space structures.

Re: SpaceX Launches 19th Rocket in a Year, a Company Record

#74

Post by Shivetya »

jlawson wrote: post #47
hackernudes wrote: post #24

Here is a link to the launch video (cued at T-15s): https://youtu.be/Wq8kS6UoOrQ?t=1179

I love how the lower part of the rocket is battered and burned by repeated re-entry. It's starting to look like something from a gritty sci-fi movie.

these landings are still just magic to me when I watch them. I know one day this will be old hat but for now I will just watch and enjoy them

Re: SpaceX Launches 19th Rocket in a Year, a Company Record

#75

Post by skykooler »

jlawson wrote: post #47
hackernudes wrote: post #24

Here is a link to the launch video (cued at T-15s): https://youtu.be/Wq8kS6UoOrQ?t=1179

I love how the lower part of the rocket is battered and burned by repeated re-entry. It's starting to look like something from a gritty sci-fi movie.

And this is after only two flights. It's a Block 5 booster, which are supposedly designed for 100 reflights each.

Re: SpaceX Launches 19th Rocket in a Year, a Company Record

#76

Post by larrydag »

jankeymeulen wrote: post #22
joshmarlow wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In addition to asteroid mining and other industrial activities, once pricing comes down, I think entertainment could be a large market. Space tourism is one possibility, but tourists have to deal with getting sick going up. I think entertainment produced in space but sold on Earth could be big - particularly space sports! You could design sports that are just not possible to play on a planet.

People keep say astroid mining but I've yet to see a convincing business case...

Planetary Resources just folded up shop and got sold. The new company is liquidating most of the assets from what I can tell. That's a shame. That looked like a really interesting concept.

Re: SpaceX Launches 19th Rocket in a Year, a Company Record

#77

Post by larrydag »

bluGill wrote: post #59
jankeymeulen wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People keep say astroid mining but I've yet to see a convincing business case...

What are we proposing to mine? The business case for platinum is easy to make if there is a quantity of relatively pure ore. The business case for iron is hard to make. Unfortunately iron is common on earth and on asteroids (I'm confident in making that statement without looking it up so I guess I could be wrong). Platinum is rare on earth and in great demand, and seems to be just as rare in space. I can come up with…

Apparently the precious metal content on asteroids is through the roof. Titanium, Nickel, Platinum, etc. One study concluded that there was more than a trillion dollars worth of metal on one asteroid alone.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ericmack/2015/07/19/trillion-do...

Re: SpaceX Launches 19th Rocket in a Year, a Company Record

#78

Post by bryanlarsen »

larrydag wrote: post #77
bluGill wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are we proposing to mine? The business case for platinum is easy to make if there is a quantity of relatively pure ore. The business case for iron is hard to make. Unfortunately iron is common on earth and on asteroids (I'm confident in making that statement without looking it up so I guess I could be wrong). Platinum is rare on earth and in great demand, and seems to be just as rare in space. I can come up with…

Apparently the precious metal content on asteroids is through the roof. Titanium, Nickel, Platinum, etc. One study concluded that there was more than a trillion dollars worth of metal on one asteroid alone. https://www.forbes.com/sites/ericmack/2015/07/19/trillion-do...

And there's 0.005 ppm / kg * 5.97219 * 10^24 KG * 29540 $/kg = ~ 1 sextillion dollars worth of platinum in the earth's crust.

Re: SpaceX Launches 19th Rocket in a Year, a Company Record

#79

Post by agildehaus »

jlawson wrote: post #47
hackernudes wrote: post #24

Here is a link to the launch video (cued at T-15s): https://youtu.be/Wq8kS6UoOrQ?t=1179

I love how the lower part of the rocket is battered and burned by repeated re-entry. It's starting to look like something from a gritty sci-fi movie.

She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kid.

Re: SpaceX Launches 19th Rocket in a Year, a Company Record

#80

Post by mulmen »

benj111 wrote: post #71
ajmurmann wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They also proposed super fast intercontinental travel via BFR. I think they claimed something like ~20m NYC to Shanghai travel time.

Unfortunately it would have the Ryanair problem of 'Shanghai' spaceport being somewhere in the Gobi desert. And 'NYC' spaceport being somewhere in the Nevada desert, so the journey will still take 12 hours. Plus I can't see China accepting US owned ballistic trajectory rockets firing at their major cities.

Even taking conventional rail tens of miles outside a major city to ride a rocket will overall be faster than conventional air travel. I believe the SpaceX proposal for intercontinental travel involves a ferry boat to a floating launch pad and they don't need thousands of miles of safety buffer.

I don't think the BFR will deliberately land at ballistic speeds because it would kill all the passengers. Local authorities would have plenty of chances to monitor the reentering vehicles. We fly airplanes the size of strategic bombers to China constantly and there don't seem to be any problems.

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