this post was submitted on 22 Jun 2024
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No one cared when Astra’s first three attempts (with a much less ambitious design) recently failed to reach orbit. Of course, launching rockets is hard and SpaceX’s first, less ambitious rocket also failed on its first three attempts. I’m sure other manufacturers have had their own share of problems. IMO people mostly think worse of spacex because it gets more publicity, but some degree of failure is always to be expected with new ventures in commercial rocketry.
There's 2 main reasons spacex gets shit. First one is Musk. Second one is the weird competitive thing SpaceX fanbois do where they criticise the shit out of all other rocket manufacturers and endlessly praise everything spaceX do.
3rd SpaceX is a private company getting public (national) funding and taking away from NASA (a national institution)
Same for Boeing, Rocketdyne, Northrop Grumman and the like. Why are they getting a pass?
I don't think Boeing is getting a pass. If anything, its become an even bigger laughing stock than SpaceX.
As to the rest, most people forget they even exist. What has Rocketdyne even received credit for of late, ffs? What has Lockhead, for that matter?
Space Launch System (SLS) is a joint project of Roketdyne, Boeing and ~~Lockheed~~ Northrop Grumman. My issue is that Boeing is not getting enough shit and the other two are not even known.
edit, got Northrop and lockeed mixed up.
Maybe don't take away NASA funding and give it to any of them?
Yeah, but NASA does not actually make rockets anymore. All of these companies get money from NASA not instead of NASA.
Maybe they should?
Agreed.
A great deal of the problem with the modern rocket industry is that it has been commercialized.
Indian and Chinese public sector agencies don't need to run around sucking off donors for money or inventing new ways to generate profit on taxpayer expense. They can operate at-cost with a consistent budget and aim at targets set by experts in the field rather than investors with the biggest wallets. Consequently, they're putting up better and more efficient spacecraft - India put its Mangalyaan probe into orbit around Mars for a measly $75M, China's the only country left with a nationally independent space station - than anyone in the private sector has managed to date.
Back when NASA wasn't an entirely owned and operates subsidiary of Boeing, it was able to go toe-to-toe with the USSR. But now the pursuit of quarterly profits is dissolving the western space industry to the point where we can't even get people off the ISS without Russia's help.
musk's dragging it down with his constant bullshit.
That's true in general for everything he touches, but rockets are designed to overcome a lot of drag :)