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Comment on Why it's so hard to build a jet engine - by Brian Potter

I can’t respect anyone saying spaceX is in a category of their own. Not only have they merely replicated what MDouglas did already in the 90s, their costs are wholly subsidised by the US government in an attempt to become relevant in space launches again rather than subcontracting launches from ESA or Russia. Remove the subsidies and it’s far cheaper to use Arianne for the launches than any of the falcons. It’s the US usual playbook: If you can’t compete, claim national defense and subsidise to the wazoo against WTO rules.

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SMillerNL@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
It does say “with reusable rockets”, which is technically correct because as far as I know nobody else has reused theirs.

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Cocodapuf@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
No… That doesn’t add up. The falcon 9 didn’t get as many subsidies as you might think (and it only got that during development, it gets no subsidies now). And Arianne Space has some extremely expensive rockets. SpaceX is launching for 1/10 the price of their competitors (literally), and then they’re reusing the first stages…

Anyone who thinks SpaceX isn’t in a unique position right now isn’t being honest to themselves. They’re doing what was previously thought to be impossible, about twice a week.

I mean don’t get me wrong, Musk is a monster, an irredeemable human being. But spaceX is not just Elon Musk. And what they’re doing is something nobody has been able to do before and they’re doing it very well. If they can succeed at making a fully reusable rocket with their starship, they’ll have accomplished something truly transformative. The first fully reusable launch vehicle will usher in a new era for human civilization, I’m not exaggerating to say it’s one of the most important things happening on the planet right now.

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- Viri4thus@feddit.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  “They’re doing what was previously thought to be impossible”
  
  DCXA (am I a joke to you)
  
  Elmo fanboy detected.
  
  Nobody thought it was impossible, everyone with half a brain understands the math of launching rockets and figured out recoverable VTOLs don’t save that much money compared to traditional launches. Space X has pentagon contracts that allow them to practice dumping in the launch market. Anyone who thinks otherwise is not being honest to themselves.
  
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  - Cocodapuf@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
    Heh, yeah they should have kept trying to get the Delta clipper to work. But they notably ended development of the program…
    
    Nobody thought it was impossible
    
    Everyone thought it was infeasible, especially after the Delta clipper proved unproductive. After that, nobody even tried because it would just be an endless money pit there certainly wants any active development in that area I know of when SpaceX started.
    
    Elmo fanboy detected.
    
    I explicitly said the opposite. I’ll admit to being extremely impressed with what SpaceX has accomplished, but don’t confuse that with musk worship, the man needs to just stop doing… anything.
    
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