I'm excited to see where the access to easy and relatively cheap access to smallsat launches takes us, as there's a ton of applications (like the ones discussed in this article) that have always...
I'm excited to see where the access to easy and relatively cheap access to smallsat launches takes us, as there's a ton of applications (like the ones discussed in this article) that have always been prohibitively expensive before.
Hopefully we'll be able to have all of these without increasing our already significant space junk issues. If they're kept to reasonably low orbits they should decay quickly enough not to be an issue. Assuming SpaceX gets Starship flying before too long, I wonder if they'll do massive rideshares to LEO for applications like this and Starlink.
Personally I think the times SpaceX have given for Starship are much, much to ambitious. Even for Elon and his penchant for rapid development. I don't think we'll see a flight before 2024, frankly.
Personally I think the times SpaceX have given for Starship are much, much to ambitious. Even for Elon and his penchant for rapid development. I don't think we'll see a flight before 2024, frankly.
I agree that timelines will certainly slip from the super optimistic state they're in now, but they're moving fast with Starship. They went from "we're switching to stainless steel" to "our water...
I agree that timelines will certainly slip from the super optimistic state they're in now, but they're moving fast with Starship. They went from "we're switching to stainless steel" to "our water tower flew" in ~6 months, and the hulls of the two prototypes are nearing completion. I think that it's not unreasonable to expect a first suborbital flight by the end of this year or beginning of next year.
I'm excited to see where the access to easy and relatively cheap access to smallsat launches takes us, as there's a ton of applications (like the ones discussed in this article) that have always been prohibitively expensive before.
Hopefully we'll be able to have all of these without increasing our already significant space junk issues. If they're kept to reasonably low orbits they should decay quickly enough not to be an issue. Assuming SpaceX gets Starship flying before too long, I wonder if they'll do massive rideshares to LEO for applications like this and Starlink.
Personally I think the times SpaceX have given for Starship are much, much to ambitious. Even for Elon and his penchant for rapid development. I don't think we'll see a flight before 2024, frankly.
I agree that timelines will certainly slip from the super optimistic state they're in now, but they're moving fast with Starship. They went from "we're switching to stainless steel" to "our water tower flew" in ~6 months, and the hulls of the two prototypes are nearing completion. I think that it's not unreasonable to expect a first suborbital flight by the end of this year or beginning of next year.