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SpaceX signs a deal to rocket military cargo around the world:
The US Air Force is enlisting Elon Musk's help in developing a way to deliver military supplies and humanitarian aid via SpaceX rockets.
The company has signed a contract with the US Department of Defense worth over $102 million to provide point-to-point transit for cargo via space.
[...] The contract, awarded Friday, falls under the Air Force Research Laboratory's rocket cargo program, which aims to take advantage of the falling price of heavy launch capabilities that SpaceX and other companies have brought to the market in recent years.
Program manager Greg Spanjers told SpaceNews earlier this week that the military is "very interested in the ability to deliver the cargo anywhere on Earth to support humanitarian aid and disaster relief."
The contract doesn't specify which SpaceX rocket or vehicle the initiative will utilize. SpaceX has used its Falcon 9 rocket and Falcon Heavy (which is made up of three Falcon 9 boosters) for military missions in the past, but Musk has made clear that he views Starship as the vehicle of the future.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by khallow on Sunday January 23 2022, @12:27AM (2 children)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 24 2022, @05:37PM (1 child)
At 9m (30 ft) diameter and 50m (160ft) long, Starship is pretty much the definition of an oversized load. Moving one on surface requires heavy equipment and a wide, flat, paved road with no overhead obstructions all the way to the pier, but fuel can be delivered anywhere an 18 wheeler can get to. Most of the world already has access for trucks, but very little has roads capable of handling something three lanes wide. Refuelling seems to be the fastest, cheapest, and easiest way to move one any significant distance.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday January 25 2022, @06:38AM
I still think it's way easier to move something three lanes wide and half a football field long by road than to refuel it and move it that way. After all, you need to inspect the engine first, hope the stage didn't collapse from days of underpressurization, and then you're fueling with cryofuels in a random location. I wouldn't be surprised if the only thing that actually can be moved are the rocket engines with the rest left in place as exotic litter. Those engines definitely are small enough to be moved by road with normal clearances.
The thing is light enough that they could move it with a cargo helicopter like a Chinook (assuming very low wind).