gentoobro on Nostr: It is (was?) the single most expensive thing ever built by humanity. Much of this had ...
It is (was?) the single most expensive thing ever built by humanity.
Much of this had to do with the ungodly amount of corruption in the US space industry and the defense contractors who run it. Remember, China is the second largest launcher in the world after SpaceX, and waaaaay ahead of 3rd place. The vast majority of their rockets are simple and cheap designs, not overengineered ultra-complicated bureaucratic boondoggles. Falcon 9's design is not particularly revolutionary either. It uses the simplest and most naive engine design, built with an eye on cost. It uses simple fuels. It's made from simple, standard materials. Sure, it comes back and lands, and that took a lot of engineering effort, but NASA had the capability to build a Falcon 9 since the mid 90's at least. So did Boeing and Lockheed and Northrop Grumman. But they didn't. They just wanted to feed on the teats of government and guard their pensions.
The ISS weighs 450 tons. Falcon 9 could lift it for just under $2b, which is less than the cost of **two shuttle launches**. And it would only take 2 months to launch the entire thing. Even if NASA was only half as efficient as SpaceX, it could relaunch a new ISS in only 4 months for the cost of 2 SLS launches.
Much of this had to do with the ungodly amount of corruption in the US space industry and the defense contractors who run it. Remember, China is the second largest launcher in the world after SpaceX, and waaaaay ahead of 3rd place. The vast majority of their rockets are simple and cheap designs, not overengineered ultra-complicated bureaucratic boondoggles. Falcon 9's design is not particularly revolutionary either. It uses the simplest and most naive engine design, built with an eye on cost. It uses simple fuels. It's made from simple, standard materials. Sure, it comes back and lands, and that took a lot of engineering effort, but NASA had the capability to build a Falcon 9 since the mid 90's at least. So did Boeing and Lockheed and Northrop Grumman. But they didn't. They just wanted to feed on the teats of government and guard their pensions.
The ISS weighs 450 tons. Falcon 9 could lift it for just under $2b, which is less than the cost of **two shuttle launches**. And it would only take 2 months to launch the entire thing. Even if NASA was only half as efficient as SpaceX, it could relaunch a new ISS in only 4 months for the cost of 2 SLS launches.