Submitted 7 months ago by L4s@lemmy.world [bot] to technology@lemmy.world
After decades of dreams, a commercial spaceplane is almost ready to fly::“Plunging into the ocean is awful. Landing on a runway is really nice."
Why? There’s so many other things we could put money towards that would help people like climate change research.
It’s hard to imagine that a spaceplane would have a larger environmental impact than a rocket. Since we are going to continue sending things to space, a spaceplane would have a positive impact on climate change.
It’s still launched by a rocket. The plane part is only for landing. Whether this will actually work or be more efficient than ablative re entry remains to be seen.
Cheaper satellites are a good thing environmentally though, as it will be how any emission controls will be monitored.
db2@lemmy.world 7 months ago
How many billionaires does it seat? They’re not going to the Titanic, maybe this will work.
CalicoJack@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 months ago
We’ll have to wait for the next model, this one is strictly unmanned cargo transport.
Holyginz@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Too bad they couldn’t get the same designer as that sub. Pretty sure they could make headway on cleaning up human rights abuses if they could.
Nommer@sh.itjust.works 7 months ago
The designers of the sub were all aerospace engineers so they may do a better job on a space plane