Anything small and reasonably low is so much more fun on twisty roads than a big jacked up lifted truck or jeep or whatever. I hate catching up to trucks in my crossover and getting stuck behind them on what should be a super fun mountain road.
I just said this the other day. Bloody finally! I’m actually a massive fan of Teslas. They’re pretty cars and technologically, they’re at the top of the pack, but they shouldn’t be allowed to advertise SAE level 2 as Full Self Driving.
I’m surprised that there’s enough of a market for them to plan a fully commercial mission. More power to them. CLPS is one of my favorite programs, and I’m hoping Firefly lands successfully later this year. Then the landings can really start to stack up and improve access to the moon for universities, startups, and weird art projects and memorials and whatever else.
The author is 100% biased as the Chairman of York, one of the SDA’s smallsat primes.
I agree with him for smallsat constellations. Planned obsolescence and short (5 yr) life spans make sense for cheap satellites that can keep getting replaced with upgraded hardware while the industry grows up.
I think there’ll still be a small market for mission extension for $atellites, but that’s a far cry from drawing an exponential line of LEO traffic and calling it a refuelling business model.
The human landing systems (HLS) require refuelling, not SLS. SpaceX will need 10ish flights for their Starship lunar lander, but that number changes as vehicle performance improves. I don’t know the number of refuelling flights for Blue Origin’s lander.
You won’t catch me defending SLS or Orion at all (cost, timelines, old tech, pork, etc.), I just wanted to clarify that point.
Regarding the Apollo comparison- that program was cancelled for a reason. They hit diminishing marginal returns on sending a little lander and rover, so the money wasn’t worth it. Why would we do that again? Artemis is supposed to be bigger, “sustainable” and more long term with longer surface stays, the pressurized rover, a crew hab, a space station, and international collaboration.
I’m a card carrying SLS hater, but I would rather have it do missions like this than Artemis. I hate the political gamesmanship that has to go on with these programs, but if allocating a few SLS launches for science (MSR and Dragonfly?) opens the door for Artemis to start to move away from SLS and Orion, then I’ll gladly take it.
As long as that payload can survive SLS’s vibration environment that would have shaken Europa Clipper to pieces!
SpaceX will hit 83 orbital launches from its KSC pad. That’s one more than the 82 shuttle launches that took place over the 30-year history of that program....
Rocket Report: Starship stacked; Georgia shuts the door on Spaceport Camden (arstechnica.com)
Luka Dončić, Mavs Eliminate SGA, Thunder (bleacherreport.com)
Good game, great last quarter
Ford asks suppliers for ideas to cut EV costs in an all-win-or-lose push for profitability (electrek.co)
Helium leak further delays Starliner crewed test flight (spacenews.com)
Kia is testing an electric pickup in the US that looks like a Ford F-150 Lightning (electrek.co)
Tesla must face fraud suit for claiming its cars could fully drive themselves (arstechnica.com)
I just said this the other day. Bloody finally! I’m actually a massive fan of Teslas. They’re pretty cars and technologically, they’re at the top of the pack, but they shouldn’t be allowed to advertise SAE level 2 as Full Self Driving.
Ford cancels EV battery orders as losses widen to $130,000 per vehicle sold (www.notebookcheck.net)
Lunar lander company ispace sees opportunities in Japan-U.S. Artemis agreement (spacenews.com)
Op-ed: Space Economics 101: Why the Math on Refueling Just Doesn’t Add Up (spacenews.com)
Rocket Report: German launch from Australia; Neutron delayed until 2025 (arstechnica.com)
Analyst on Starlink’s rapid rise: “Nothing short of mind-blowing” (arstechnica.com)
A customized version of Canoo's electric delivery van for the USPS has been spotted in the wild (electrek.co)
It looks a little dorky, but in a futuristic way. I like it.
NASA wants a cheaper Mars Sample Return—Boeing proposes most expensive rocket (arstechnica.com)
🚨 SUNS FIRE FRANK VOGEL (bleacherreport.com)
Atlas V and Starliner roll back to the VIF (twitter.com)
SpaceX poised to break Space Shuttle pad record with Falcon 9 Starlink mission (spaceflightnow.com)
SpaceX will hit 83 orbital launches from its KSC pad. That’s one more than the 82 shuttle launches that took place over the 30-year history of that program....
China's BYD to launch first pick up truck at event in Mexico (www.reuters.com)
Kia EV3 world premiere confirmed ahead of summer launch - electrive.com (www.electrive.com)
SpaceX got the fanfare, but Boeing’s first crew flight [will still be] historic (arstechnica.com)