Do you think this kind of thing is worrying or not?
Nah. Space Force is looking to justify itself. Not that there’s no risk here, but even just getting things into space remains far more expensive than any military value it could provide - not even getting into diplomatic issues of militarizing space.
Attacking reconnaissance satellites is fairly cheap for anyone with even a sub-orbital rocket and can provide a huge amount of military value. If you can make it to geostationary orbit you could cause a lot of havoc, too. It could also trigger Kessler Syndrome which is why we need to take it seriously.
However, my headcanon is that the Space Force was created simply to get the SGC more funding. They even made a TV show about it.
China needs us economically as much as we need them for manufacturing. Sure, we’re trying to be more independent and make more domestically, and they are trying to be more independent economically through BRICS. Neither country is doing a very good job of attaining their goals of independence, but to keep up appearances both countries like to simultaneously pretend there’s not a relationship and also that they are the top in the relationship.
The reality is both countries have some wealthy “oligarchs” who exploit workers and governments that mostly only work to benefit themselves and their oligarch friends. China will take out an oligarch here and there when they decide they’re getting too powerful, and Americans get to elect some of our leaders, other than that we’re not very different. Deep down both governments understand it would be political suicide to antagonize the other to the point meaningfully harming them. At least both current governments that is, Trump is probably too dumb to realize we need each other, so that’s a potential wild card, but North Korea is almost certainly a bigger threat to both the US and China than we will to each other for decades.
have absolutely not problem believing this, the chinese have their heads down, going back to the moon before us, and are going to rule space, while we’re down here re-electing an orange baboon to make sure they do
I don’t see this as a bad thing, maybe china landing people on the moon before us will light a fire on both sides of the aisle to stop fucking around with commercial space contracts.
Over-reliance on SpaceX is causing the same problems to Artemis that over-reliance on Boeing caused the SLS program. A year and a half behind schedule, blown their entire budget on a meme rocket that only potentially lifts half the tonnage promised.
Hard to describe starship as a meme rocket when nasa has given Boeing et al carte blanche for an ineffective and outdated launch system
Hard disagree. SpaceX has been pushing the envelope into reusable rocketry like nothing that’s ever been seen before. They delivered their crew capsule years before Boeing, and Boeing’s is still far from operational. If you ask me, the cost-plus contracts given to companies like Boeing are the real problem, and contributed to the SLS delays. That rocket will cost us billions of dollars per launch. Compare that to a few Falcon Heavy launches and see whose budget is overblown. At least with the fixed-price contracts given to SpaceX and Blue Origin, the taxpayer isn’t on the hook for any delays or cost overruns. Plus, they’re the only ones seriously building human-rated lunar landers. Yeah, I wish our space companies weren’t in the hands of egotistical billionaires, but that is the world we live in.
The falcon rockets are fine but SpaceX has been raising prices on their launches since they won the majority of the contracts.
It used to cost 20 million a seat on the Soyuz until Russia became the sole provider of crewed launches, then they raised the price to about 80 million a seat.
Along comes musk and promises 20 million a seat and low and behold after the contracts are fulfilled they raise the price to 80 million as well.
SpaceX is falling into the same rut every company that becomes a monopoly enters into, and Starship is Musk’s personal meme rocket the taxpayer has already shelled out 4 billion for, and there’s not even a launch with a working payload.
SpaceX looks cool flashy as shit but they over-promise and under-deliver at the same rate Tesla does. Early success giving way to overconfidence and an inability to deliver on their lofty promises.
we are about to reelect the orange baboon, again. we are no where, going no where. it’s a complete disaster. there is nothing good about china gaining dominion over near space.
US space policy is dominated by politicians who see NASA as a way to dole out government pork to their local constituencies. As long as that doesn’t change, progress will continue to be very slow. The Chinese landing people on the moon just might be what the US need to pull their heads out of their arse and get a move on. If Trump wins, it’ll all be fucked up anyway, but so will everything else.
I’m really not convinced that China landing people on the moon would be that much of a wake up call since “we’ve been there, done that.” The moon doesn’t have nearly the same inconceivable new frontier value like it did pre-apollo.
Maybe China landing astronauts on Mars would be different, but the general public and congress seem pretty apathetic towards space exploration.
The next frontier is not going to the moon, it’s staying there and utilising the local resources. This may have huge geostrategic implications too, so you can be damn sure the Yanks will take notice if the Chinese get there first.
This is how all military branches have always pressured Congress for more budget. They give a public disquisition with doomsday scenarios about our rivals/adversaries so the public will see the press coverage and call their Congressional reps to demand the military gets built up.
This is how all military branches have always pressured Congress for more budget.
That’s fairly accurate, but that is the military’s job.
However, the CCP military rapidly upgrading their orbital and suborbital capabilities should give pause to those who want free and open democratic societies and republics.
Military jingoism and scaremongering can and do exist simultaneously. It’s our job to elect people who can responsibly address both hyperbolic alarmism and real threats from aggressive and encroaching adversaries.
Basically: give them some money, but not all of it.
It’s something of a cycle that aggressors will claim capabilities that are terrifying and then the US overreacts. When we heard about the Foxbat we built the F-15, even though the former eats its own engines if used at afterburner for more than a minute and would melt if it hit the top speed.
The Space Race happened because we thought the Soviets had way more capability than they did.
Hell, the B-52 only exists because we were convinced the Russians had thousands of bombers.
In reality, the Soviets lied so completely to their population and leadership that they also thought they had that stuff, even though they were basically forcing captured Nazi scientists to copy Western designs.
No. Space Force chief wants more money, of course there’s another disaster coming.
If they were serious about space tech, the first step would be to end all contracts with compromised Elon Musk.
Also, ArsTechnica is kind of a dumpster fire on reporting anything PRC and allowing ethnic slurs in the comment section so take it with a grain of salt.
SpaceX is the only legitimate way to make it into space in the US right now though. it’s mostly a failure of NASA, but it’s going to take decades for a real competitor.
Not a failure of NASA a failure to fund NASA
Well, both funding and design by committee. Specifically a committee of politicians not motivated by the best or cheapest outcome, but the outcome that funnels jobs and money into their state and most specifically into their donors.
It sort of is. Securing funding is part of of the Job at the top level of officials.
And I’m making the point that failing to fund NASA is what has caused that and not replacing the shuttle system.
It is not the fault of them if they have to go with hat in hand and beg just to keep going projects that are meaningful.
Continue James Webb or scrap the ability to get james webb to space is essentially the a type of decision that had to be made.
I think they made the right call and i want to put the blame in the right spot.
Failing would be then deciding when they don’t have to that they didn’t want to build rockets anymore. At least that’s how i see it, and I’m not in those circles so it’s just like my opinion man
Hey it’s my first thought on hearing that Boeing satellite “exploded for no reason”.
100% yep.
What is that uniform.
The US Space Force, which monitors more than 46,000 objects in orbit, has about 10,000 personnel but is the smallest department of the US military. Its officers are known as “guardians.”
Think they win the most cringe service award.
I think i agree with the problems you touch on, but i still dont think those are the organization’s fault itself, more of an oversight problem
