“The entry of SpaceX into the commercial market is a game changer. It’s going to really shake the industry to its roots.”
As said by the chief technology officer of one of the world’s largest satellite communications company, in reference to today’s scheduled 5:37 pm (Eastern) launch of Falcon 9’s first geosynchronous satellite payload. As this man and Elon Musk also added,
“I don’t want to tempt fate … but I think it’s going to have a pretty significant impact on the world launch market and on the launch industry because our prices are the most competitive of any in the world,” he said.
If SpaceX can deliver, the company’s competitors “will have to improve their designs and really strive to have next-generation rocket technology,” Musk said. “So I think SpaceX could be a powerful forcing function for the improvement of rocket technology. Not just the stuff we do ourselves, but in that we will force other rocket companies to either develop new technology that’s a lot better or they have to exit the launch market.”
Or, Halliwell added, “they have to improve their industrial process very, very significantly, and that’s really where SpaceX has rocked the show.”
The innovation and lowering of prices by SpaceX, combined with the increasing miniaturization of satellites, is going to make space more affordable to many more customers. Eventually, the competition forced upon the launch industry by these factors will make manned spaceflight itself more affordable and routine. It will open up the solar system to us all.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the 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. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
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.
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As said by the chief technology officer of one of the world’s largest satellite communications company, in reference to today’s scheduled 5:37 pm (Eastern) launch of Falcon 9’s first geosynchronous satellite payload. As this man and Elon Musk also added,
“I don’t want to tempt fate … but I think it’s going to have a pretty significant impact on the world launch market and on the launch industry because our prices are the most competitive of any in the world,” he said.
If SpaceX can deliver, the company’s competitors “will have to improve their designs and really strive to have next-generation rocket technology,” Musk said. “So I think SpaceX could be a powerful forcing function for the improvement of rocket technology. Not just the stuff we do ourselves, but in that we will force other rocket companies to either develop new technology that’s a lot better or they have to exit the launch market.”
Or, Halliwell added, “they have to improve their industrial process very, very significantly, and that’s really where SpaceX has rocked the show.”
The innovation and lowering of prices by SpaceX, combined with the increasing miniaturization of satellites, is going to make space more affordable to many more customers. Eventually, the competition forced upon the launch industry by these factors will make manned spaceflight itself more affordable and routine. It will open up the solar system to us all.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the 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. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
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.
The concept of forcing function is a very important one. Innovation doesn’t happen automatically.