Via Wired, it looks like the Da Vinci Project (now renamed the GoldenPalace.com space program) is running into problems with finding insurance.
Insurance is a huge deal for suborbital startups, and will probably turn out to be a showstopper for at least some of them. I was very surprised to find out how much of a problem insurance and launch licensing (including environmental regulation) were going to be when I first got seriously involved with this area. Launch licensing is partially addressed by Senate bill 2772, but insurance is still out there. If I was to start a suborbital launch services company tomorrow I’d tackle the insurance issue in parallel with vehicle development. The right vehicle design will keep insurance costs low, and the wrong design will drive them towards infinity.
Tim Worstall has some post-apocalyptic thoughts that are applicable to pre-apocalyptic space policy. I can never remind people enough the reason that we aren’t a true space-faring nation is not lack of technology or technologists–it’s lack of the viable institutions and means of organizing resources toward that end. Fortunately, that’s starting to change.
Tim Worstall has some post-apocalyptic thoughts that are applicable to pre-apocalyptic space policy. I can never remind people enough the reason that we aren’t a true space-faring nation is not lack of technology or technologists–it’s lack of the viable institutions and means of organizing resources toward that end. Fortunately, that’s starting to change.
Tim Worstall has some post-apocalyptic thoughts that are applicable to pre-apocalyptic space policy. I can never remind people enough the reason that we aren’t a true space-faring nation is not lack of technology or technologists–it’s lack of the viable institutions and means of organizing resources toward that end. Fortunately, that’s starting to change.
The Swift Boat controversy is taking its toll, even if it’s not showing up that strongly in the polls yet. People have been dumping his stock for the last couple days. If they could sell short, they probably would.
[Update a couple minutes later]
And Kerry’s chickens continue to come home to roost. His problems may be just beginning. Judging by the disproportionate impact of the Swift Vet ads, in terms of their funding, I suspect that this documentary will similarly have much more impact than Michael Moore’s polemic.
There’s a huge (and largely pointless) argument going on over at Space Politics about whether or not we should go to the Moon before Mars (kicked off by Bob Zubrin’s wishful thinking).
I liked Ed Wright’s comment:
We don’t have a national consensus on what to do in the air or on the sea or on land.
We don’t need a national consensus to decide whether Americans will go to Las Vegas or Disneyland next year.
Why is that when it comes to space, people think there can only be one destination and one goal, which is chosen by national consensus?