“Why Hasn’t the Chinese SpaceX Emerged Yet?” provides a bit more context regarding some of the challenges commercial Chinese...
Swords, Plowshares & China’s Space Startups
Category: Government Accountability Office
Lessons Not Learned, Part Deux
While the first "Lessons Not Learned" analyzed the Space Development Agency's likelihood of achieving its proposed "Space Transport Architecture" on time and on budget, the subject of this analysis was instigated from another Government Accountability Office (GAO) report recently released focusing on the United States Air Force's (USAF) Space and Missile Systems Center’s (SMC) efforts… Continue reading Lessons Not Learned, Part Deux
SpaceX’s Cyclical Problem
Two years ago, the German magazine “Der Spiegel” interviewed Ariane Group’s Alain Charmeau (translation of that interview, here). The interview initially focused on the development of and launch plans for Arianespace’s newest rocket, the Ariane 6 (which might be launched in 2020). However, during the interview, “Der Spiegel” mentioned the fact that SpaceX’s Falcon 9… Continue reading SpaceX’s Cyclical Problem
Sharing: Money, Missions, Influence
The last post, “Spacecraft Deployments, SpaceX Activities, What Pandemic?” contained quite a few numbers--mainly to do with satellite costs, manufacturing rates, and deployment shares. A part of the article’s focus was to provide a possible reason for why SpaceX might be launching another 60 Starlink satellites during a pandemic. The proposed broadband service provided by… Continue reading Sharing: Money, Missions, Influence
Overclassification, Commerce, and Safety
“New DoD Policy To Ease Space Secrecy Near: Raymond”--Breaking Defense, April 2020 “...and despite the Presidential order to refrain from unwarranted classification, a culture persists that defaults to the avoidance of risk rather than its proper management.” --”TRANSFORMING the SECURITY CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM,” November 2012 “The point of aerospace integration is to merge space capabilities into… Continue reading Overclassification, Commerce, and Safety
Military Milestones, Costs, and Culture
I’m going to admit this up front--I went down a rabbit hole in this analysis. A long one. But I guarantee you this particular analysis is COVID-19-free. The Milestone that Isn’t The United States Space Force (SF) monitored the launch of the DoD’s sixth Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) satellite last week. Many have noted… Continue reading Military Milestones, Costs, and Culture
Space Industry Analysis | Ill-Defined Space 