It might be real, but the Left’s “solutions” to it are a fantasy.
Category Archives: Economics
The Delay In Spaceport Brownsville
Joe Pappalardo has the story. I wonder how much of it is due to environmental impact assessment, and if so, if it would be as hard if they were doing an airport instead? Back in 2004, we tried to extend the categorical exception that the aviation industry gets from the National Environmental Protection Act to space transportation, but the result was weak tea, leaving waivers up the discretion of the head of the EPA. Something I’d like to see in an amended version of the Commercial Space Launch Act would be to make it a clean extension, with no discretion from Gina (or any future administrator). It would be interesting to see if that made it veto bait for Obama, though.
The High Cost Of Space Access
Roger Launius has a brief history of the Shuttle, but this number is outdated:
The best expendable launch vehicles (ELV) still cost about $10,000 per pound from Earth to orbit.
As I commented over there (it’s awaiting moderation), Falcon 9 delivers ~30,000 lbs to LEO for ~$60M. That’s $2000/lb. Price, not cost. Falcon Heavy will roughly halve that. If they can reuse cores, they’ll drop the price further.
Feline Behavior
Space Access 2015
After a one-year hiatus, the conference is happening again (though a few weeks later than usual, early May instead of early April). I think it’s the best value for the money to find out what’s going on in space transportation and reducing the cost of getting to orbit.
Delta IV
Is it near the end of the line for the rocket? Looks like SpaceX has killed it.
The New Space Development Alliance
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.
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.
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.”