Comments on: The battle between France and Germany on how to replace the Ariane 5 rocket continues. https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/the-battle-between-france-and-germany-on-how-to-replace-the-ariane-5-rocket-continues/ Thu, 22 May 2014 13:38:57 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 By: Competential https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/the-battle-between-france-and-germany-on-how-to-replace-the-ariane-5-rocket-continues/#comment-168861 Thu, 22 May 2014 13:38:57 +0000 http://behindtheblack.com/?p=28598#comment-168861 Four identical stages sound like good economics of scale. I’ve heard that Ariane has successfully lowered costs by producing their rockets in large batches. They certainly seem to be ahead of the Constellation-SLS-reuse-of-the-1980s-space-shuttle-bits-and-pieces concept that NASA is stuck in.

Germans love complicated stuff. And that’s not the way of rocket science in our days. Simplification and cheapification is what matters now, kind of like a reaction to and maturation of the great waste of space race and military space programs. Germans won’t play any important role in that game, if I may judge them as a collective culture. Enterprenurial Americans and Asians will lead this show, and maybe some pragmatic frenchmen.

]]> By: wodun https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/the-battle-between-france-and-germany-on-how-to-replace-the-ariane-5-rocket-continues/#comment-168707 Wed, 21 May 2014 16:45:27 +0000 http://behindtheblack.com/?p=28598#comment-168707 They could strap on their big boy pants and each create their own launcher.

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