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A service module to nowhere

As a replacement for its discontinued ATV cargo freighter — which paid its share of ISS — Europe has decided to build a service module for the Orion capsule.

This decision occurred at the same time ESA decided to upgrade Ariane 5 rather than replace it. Both decisions, to my mind, were serious mistakes.

As I have already noted, Ariane 5 will not be able to compete with Falcon 9, and will thus cost a fortune and will likely make no money at all.

As for the service module, Europe could find itself building a service module with no capsule to attach to. The cost of building Orion and its launch rocket are so high it is quite likely that the program will be canceled before completion — as has happened repeatedly with every shuttle replacement program at NASA for the past two decades. Like its ExoMars program which the U.S. abandoned after making a strong commitment, Europe will be left holding the bag once again, betrayed by its dependence on an unreliable U.S. government.

Then again, this could become a boon for Russia again, which has replaced the U.S. in the ExoMars program. If they make their own upgraded capsule they could get a cheap service module, ready-made for interplanetary travel.

Genesis cover

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 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

2 comments

  • Patrick Ritchie

    I’m assuming NASA is involved in the negotiations around this, which may indicate they are already forecasting that they won’t have the money to pay Lockheed Martin to build the service module…

  • Pzatchok

    It could be a somewhat clever way of forcing LM to lower its price in order to compete with another contractor.

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