NASA and the Private Sector - Page 155

For years, Elon Musk has been talking about his plans to launch thousands of low-orbiting satellites that will be able to provide high speed internet to people around the globe. While the details of those satellites have been kept largely under wraps, we've known that the first round of prototypes were nearing a launch date, and according to a letter posted on the FCC's website yesterday (and spotted by CNET), the first two test satellites will be placed into orbit this weekend.

SpaceX's vice president of satellite affairs told Congress last year that the company planned to launch its first two demo satellites at the end of 2017 and the start of this year, and if everything went well, the first operational satellite could be launched as early as 2019. In its recent letter to the FCC, SpaceX says that two experimental satellites -- Microsat-2a and -2b -- will launch on one of its Falcon 9 rockets, which will also be carrying Paz, a radar observation satellite belonging to the Spanish government. A static fire of that rocket took place this weekend and Paz, Microsat-2a and Microsat-2b are currently scheduled for a February 17th liftoff. The Falcon 9 will launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base at 6:17AM Pacific, according to a notice on the base's website.

While these things are always subject to delays, SpaceX plans to have all of its internet-providing satellites up in orbit by 2024. And though the project is expected to cost around $10 billion, Musk expects it to generate quite a bit of revenue once it's up and running. Naturally, that revenue will be funnelled to Musk's larger goal -- Mars. In 2015, he said about the project, known as Starlink, "This is intended to generate a significant amount of revenue, and help fund a city on Mars. So in looking in the long term, and saying what's needed to create a city on Mars, well, one thing's for sure: a lot of money. So we need things that will generate a lot of money."

NASA's role as a "development catalyst" has been part of the agency's objectives since its earliest days, said Sean O'Keefe, a former NASA administrator and current university professor at Syracuse University.

"The idea was to spin that into opportunities for commercial market potential for other discoveries, for those who would build on the knowledge base of what was determined, discovered or invented as a means to overcome obstacles and take it to another level," he said.

On February 14 2018 22:08 ZerOCoolSC2 wrote:
Of course not. What I'm saying is that, NASA has had it's fangs ripped out and now SpaceX has proven that reusable rockets are possible, that you can make the rocket designs cheaper, and once Dragon Crew is tested and successful, whenever that may be, they'll be the cheapest seat on the planet for NASA. Is there a need for Orion or SLS now?

I feel like NASA is no longer NASA that I was captivated by in the 90s.