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posted by martyb on Sunday June 21 2020, @05:02AM   Printer-friendly
from the planning-ahead dept.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

SpaceX hasn’t given details about its motivation for this seemingly complex and expensive undertaking, other than a reply tweet in which Musk said the launches and landings had to be “far enough away so as not to bother heavily populated areas.” The company’s plan to eventually carry out up to three launches and landings per day would certainly necessitate putting some serious distance between the launch site and people; most of us could only handle about one sonic boom a month, if that.

A wide no-fly zone and road closures go into effect on launch days. And if Starships do eventually shuttle people around Earth or beyond on a daily basis, the takeoff and landing points would need to be conveniently located; going a few miles offshore is likely better in this regard than finding a huge empty swathe of land in, say, New Mexico or Nevada.

Rather than building the launchpads from scratch, it’s possible SpaceX would refurbish existing oil rigs; the bigger rigs are about the size of two football fields, and there are plenty of them in the Gulf of Mexico, though only a couple very near Brownsville. Given the ailing state of the oil industry, especially after the pandemic, it’s likely there will be rigs to be had for cheap.

One outstanding question is what sort of impact the launch pads would have on marine life, especially if something were to go wrong.


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  • (Score: 2) by legont on Sunday June 21 2020, @05:20AM (7 children)

    by legont (4179) on Sunday June 21 2020, @05:20AM (#1010588)

    The main Mask's motivation is to get rid of the US regulations. He wants to set up suborbital travel anywhere in 30 minutes. Doable in reasonable time, but no way FAA approved anytime soon if ever.

    --
    "Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by choose another one on Sunday June 21 2020, @10:49AM (3 children)

    by choose another one (515) Subscriber Badge on Sunday June 21 2020, @10:49AM (#1010625)

    It isn't going to be 30mins if you have a significant boat / chopper ride to add on at each end.

    If it happens, it may end up the way flying has gone post-911, with short flights now better done by car or train due to having to add on 3hrs security / checkin / mandatory shopping time (plus more at destination).

    • (Score: 2) by legont on Sunday June 21 2020, @06:45PM (2 children)

      by legont (4179) on Sunday June 21 2020, @06:45PM (#1010729)

      For a foreseeable future Mask is going to have preapproved very rich clients who can get to the start pad by their own means just fine and don't need government security. They helicopter to Manhattan daily right now. It will add just an hour to commute to Singapore.

      --
      "Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
      • (Score: 2, Touché) by legont on Sunday June 21 2020, @06:58PM (1 child)

        by legont (4179) on Sunday June 21 2020, @06:58PM (#1010735)

        Now, an ecological footprint of moving a rich ass this way is huge, but I hope nobody here really thinks Musk cares.

        After all, the sooner we burn this planet, the sooner we will have to move to Mars.

        --
        "Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
        • (Score: 2) by legont on Monday June 22 2020, @03:21AM

          by legont (4179) on Monday June 22 2020, @03:21AM (#1010930)

          Wow, somebody really trying to score me high :)

          Let me remind you how we got ground oil economy. Simple - we killed all the whales who used to provide all the oil. Nothing much changed since then.

          What about brick and concrete housing? We cut all the trees.

          This is the story of capitalism. No business will move forward if it can milk whatever it has. The only way to force them into progress is to eliminate their resources.

          --
          "Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
  • (Score: 2) by Tokolosh on Sunday June 21 2020, @02:31PM (2 children)

    by Tokolosh (585) on Sunday June 21 2020, @02:31PM (#1010651)

    Boeing got into a lot of trouble. The US government owns everything you think you own.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_Launch [wikipedia.org]

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 21 2020, @04:48PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 21 2020, @04:48PM (#1010698)

      just like your kids that you had in a slave warehouse called a hospital. (people, not necessarily "you") that's why they get a SSN. The "product" of government licensed marriages is property of the state and you are only the legally appointed "guardian". People need to stop registering their kids and private enterprises with the enemies of human freedom and big companies should create private armies to defend themselves from government thugs.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 21 2020, @11:10PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 21 2020, @11:10PM (#1010830)

      Sea Launch was shut down when Russia invaded Ukraine, because the factory where the rockets were built was in the war zone. US regulations had nothing to do with it.