Jeff Foust has the story from last week. As I noted at the time, I’m not sure that a prize is the best way to go. I’d rather see an airmail approach.
Category Archives: Business
Billionaires In The Space Business
The list grows. This is the future of spaceflight and space development, not NASA.
Walker-Fiorina?
A Mini-Fusion Reactor
This would be a huge game changer, for earth and space, if it can really be done.
The Value Of College Degrees
Anyone who talks about the ROI of a degree without talking about the type of degree, or the relative value of one school over another, is either profoundly ignorant, or fraudulent. The fact is that there are a lot of degrees for which one would have to be a fool to put themselves deep into undischargeable debt to obtain. Unfortunately a lot of people don’t understand that, and are the most likely to get those worthless degrees.
Roberts And ObamaCare
Damon Root’s take on why he’ll probably knock it down this time.
[Update late morning]
“Save us John Roberts, you’re our only hope.”
Space Development And Settlement
A new alliance. This is long overdue.
I’m not sure about the prize idea, though. I’d rather the government actually purchase bulk items (e.g., water) on orbit. The goal should be a low cost per pound, not reusability per se. I’m pretty sure that reusability would naturally fall out of that. And reusable vehicles will have to be reliable to hit the cost goal.
The Church Of Walmart
“Corporations, like all human institutions, are great engines for making mistakes. The only reason they seem so competent is that companies who make too many mistakes go out of business, and we don’t have them around for comparison.”
SpaceX Versus Boeing
Yes, SpaceX actually has more recent and relevant capsule experience than Boeing.
As I wrote in the book:
When I worked in business development for a government space contractor, I’d always be amused by the standard section we’d always have to put in our proposals to NASA or the Air Force about our company’s previous experience and heritage, as though the people who’d worked on those programs in the sixties weren’t dead or retired.
Organizations don’t have knowledge — individuals do. And to the degree that NASA has any knowledge, it is because it has retained employees who have it.. But many of those knowledgeable people have gone to work for the commercial companies, so there really is nothing “unique” about NASA. But to the degree that there is, it is primarily that, at least with respect to safety, its procedures have resulted in the loss of fourteen astronauts in flight.
But I’m sure Palazzo et al will continue to think that Boeing is a better bet than SpaceX.
The Silicon-Valley Space Race
A good perspective on the new industry, and why it’s different than the 90s.