Italy’s legislature rejects additional funding for space
The Italian legislature has refused to add an additional $250 million to the budget of its space program, money requested to help pay the country’s share in the development of Arianespace’s next generation commercial rocket, Ariane 6.
The money was also needed for several other ESA space projects. Not having it puts a question mark on Italy’s future in space. The article also illustrates how the committee nature of Europe’s cooperative space effort makes it almost impossible for it to compete in the commercial market.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
The Italian legislature has refused to add an additional $250 million to the budget of its space program, money requested to help pay the country’s share in the development of Arianespace’s next generation commercial rocket, Ariane 6.
The money was also needed for several other ESA space projects. Not having it puts a question mark on Italy’s future in space. The article also illustrates how the committee nature of Europe’s cooperative space effort makes it almost impossible for it to compete in the commercial market.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
It is sound to not waste money on trying to develop yet another rocket which will be too expensive to compete. ESA should use the cheapest launch providers in the world. Or do they run their own bauxit mines and aluminium plants and coal power plants in order to supply themselves inhouse with their aluminium?
Let’s see now, how many Ariane 5 class launchers are there in the world today? Atlas V, Delta IV, Proton, Falcon 9, Mitsubishi H-II. Plus upcoming Angara 5 and Long March 5 and Falcon Heavy. Space flight is so expensive because the wheel is being reinvented all over again. And the new rockets are often not at all cheaper than the already existing ones. Launcher development is mostly nothing but fraud against tax payers.
Arianespace should aim at becoming a supplier to SpaceX with those components and competences they have which actually are competitive. As a whole they have no chance.
SpaceX’s does most of it’s own manufacturing, so being a major supplier to them is not in the cards.
Well, they could focus their limited funds on building payloads for Falcon 9’s.
SpaceX is not yet able to launch at a rate to completely replace the other launchers. There is too much demand for launch capability. But the other companies are going to be forced to become less expensive, otherwise SpaceX and other, new, low-price providers will “eat their launch” (oh, I have wanted to say that for *so* long).
Launch providers and space agencies will have to stop being run by argumentative committees, and efficiency (not pork) will soon rule space. There will still be governmental pork projects, just like the rest of life, but the efficiencies of free-market capitalism will do better at creating jobs than the pork, just like the rest of life.