April 5, 2023 Zimmerman/Batchelor podcast
Readers!
Every February I run a fund-raising drive during my birthday month. This year I celebrate my 72nd birthday, and hope and plan to continue writing and posting on Behind the Black for as long as I am able.
I hope my readers will support this effort. As I did in my November fund-raising drive, I am offering autographed copies of my books for large donations. Donate $250 and you can have a choice of the hardback of either Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8 or Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space. Donate $200 and you can get an autographed paperback copy of either.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Readers!
Every February I run a fund-raising drive during my birthday month. This year I celebrate my 72nd birthday, and hope and plan to continue writing and posting on Behind the Black for as long as I am able.
I hope my readers will support this effort. As I did in my November fund-raising drive, I am offering autographed copies of my books for large donations. Donate $250 and you can have a choice of the hardback of either Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8 or Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space. Donate $200 and you can get an autographed paperback copy of either.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
I’m sure there’s an obvious answer I’m overlooking, but how does Rocket Lab – an American company – get permission to launch from New Zealand? Are they different from SpaceX because of the size of the rocket? Is it because SpaceX is a defense contractor?
Hi Gary,
Good question. Rocket Lab was founded and incorporated in New Zealand first. The company got flack because they took USAF contracts, so they incorporated also in the U.S.A.
I know what you are thinking: ITAR. There is no ITAR in N.Z. vs. U.S.A. and Rocket Lab was coming in with the technology. If it was the other way around, there would be no way in hell to go from U.S.A. to N.Z. with rocket technology.
Thanks, Jay. There was an aside about Rocket Lab during the podcast which stirred by near dormant brain cells.! :)
This is not true. Rocket Lab is required to have — and gets — an export license for every rocket-related part, drawing, spec, or engineering analysis it sends from the USA to New Zealand or allows a New Zealand national to have access to, even if both are located in the United States. It doesn’t matter where the technology or even the part itself originated. If a part designed and built in New Zealand is sent to the USA and, say, fails its receiving inspection, an export license is required to send the part back to New Zealand.
Gary‘s question seems to be related to the suggestion that SpaceX should move out of the U.S. to avoid the delays that are imposed by the FAA and other government agencies. There is no reason why SpaceX cannot launch from other countries, such as Virgin Orbit launching from the U.K., which is why SpaceX has made the suggestion that it may enter the point to point market (e.g. launches between New York and Tokyo, etc.). U.S. rocket and satellite companies can launch outside the U.S., but they remain subject to U.S. laws and regulations, including ITAR limitations, as mkent noted.
When Rocket Lab chose to incorporate in the U.S., it took on the onus that the U.S. would impose upon it with its laws, regulations, and ITAR limitations. U.S. companies cannot avoid these just because they launch outside the country. Rocket Lab believed that the benefits of incorporating in the U.S. outweighed the additional burden.
However, as Virgin Orbit learned the hard way, launching outside the U.S. means that local laws, regulations, and limitations apply as well. Once again, Virgin Orbit had believed that the benefits of demonstrating that they could also launch from the U.K. outweighed the additional burden, but they turned out to be terminally wrong. The U.K. is not as eager to become a spacefaring nation as they had let on, and the Virgin group paid a terrible price.
Because the U.S. considers SpaceX’s technology to be American, similar to Russia and China considering their technologies to be theirs, SpaceX cannot just move out of the U.S. and take its technology with it.