Comments on: Falcon 9 and commercial space policy

By: Larry Page

Larry Page — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 17:38:27 +0000

SpaceX rocks!

By: Jason O'Leary

Jason O'Leary — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 18:59:19 +0000

I believe that the USA can take pride in the ability of our great nationsâ€™s aerospace engineers and workers. The Republic will be held in good stead as long as this entreprenuarial spirit continues to grow as we reach out of space.

Cheers

Jason

By: vulture4

vulture4 — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 15:29:45 +0000

â€ So a Delta IV heavy is the best machine around but it is still a design concept that I personally think space flight needs to leave behind by making everything reusable or usable as a wet workshop.”

The Delta IV is well engineered, and is entirely US built unlike the Atlas; I’ve seen most of the processing line personally. But at the present time ULA is simply not cost-competitive even for satelite launch, as its lack of commercial orders makes clear. As a sole-source supplier for government launches it has been lured into the cost-plus mode of operation.

For practical human spaceflight the cargo requirements are greater and the value per kilo is less, so much lower cost is needed. Even SpaceX cannot achieve this without a fully reusable launch vehicle. The demand for seats to orbit at $20M each is a handful at most.

By: So What’s With These Reactions? « The Space Geek

So What’s With These Reactions? « The Space Geek — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 16:30:40 +0000

[…] as Dr. Plait has, is, well, weird to me. First to do what? The rocket can’t carry as much as existing ULA rockets, although it was funded and designed by a single entity instead of through NASA, and it’s also a fully reusable two-stage rocket. These are great accomplishments, but I agree with Elon Musk: […]

By: MaDeR

MaDeR — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 12:08:21 +0000

I find it strange that anyone can read “root for SpaceX” as “root against NASA”. I can imagine only one reason: someone’s job loss.

By: Congratulations, SpaceX! Now Maybe We Can Really Get Things Started « The Space Geek

Sun, 06 Jun 2010 03:07:53 +0000

[…] Of course, he also said: […]

By: Rhyolite

Rhyolite — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 19:30:06 +0000

Congratulations to SpaceX, its leaders, its investors, and most of all the its fine engineers and technicians who made this possible.

This is a good day. Not only for one company but also for the American aerospace industry and space flight in general.

By: Vladislaw

Vladislaw — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 17:12:53 +0000

You are wrong AMERICA can take pride in the ability of the NATION’s aerospace engineers and workers. The Republic will be held in good stead as long as this entreprenuarial spirit continues to grow as we reach out of space.

By: DCSCA

DCSCA — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 09:26:48 +0000

“Well, so much for the â€œhobby rocket,â€ and â€œtoy rocket.â€ They just had a successful stage separation, and theyâ€™re heading to orbit.” Yes they can take pride in replicating a launch in mid-2010 made routine by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration back in the early 1960’s. Next they have to get one up, around and down. Maybe three orbits, just like Johnny Glenn in ’62, except w/o a ‘Glenn’ aboard. Or just a dog like Laika.

By: DCSCA

DCSCA — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 09:20:14 +0000

Coastal Ron wrote @ June 4th, 2010 at 5:52 pm

Excellent. It seems fairly clear from all sides that Ares was a poor decision given the LV already available.