Category Archives: Business

Business, Economics, Political Commentary, Space, Technology and Society, War Commentary

The Space Industrial Base

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The report is out from DIU.

I’ve only read the summary so far, but this may be the most forward-looking document on space that I’ve ever seen come from the federal government. It explicitly states that the national goal should be the development and settlement of space (it was edited by Pete Garretson). And note what doesn’t appear in the report: SLS. 😄

I’m cited in the report twice, and I may be doing some consulting for General Butow in the fall. DIU is expected to get a nice budget boost in October (unless there’s a CR), because they impressed the brass in Ukraine.

Business, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Space, Technology and Society

SLS/Artemis

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As we approach the first flight on Monday (if it doesn’t turn out to be the second wet dress rehearsal that they probably should have run), Eric Berger has thoughts.

But whether the flight is successful or not, Artemis is not a serious program. I disagree with John Logsdon, though:

The lander will also require multiple refuelings en route to make the journey to the lunar surface. That will “require four or five or six launches to put the fuel into orbit,” noted John Logsdon, founder of George Washington University’s Space Policy Institute, adding that means “a lot of places for failure.”

If a propellant launch fails, you do another one. No big deal.

[Thursday-morning update]

An interview with Lori Garver.