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Is the Space Force about to acquire SpaceX Starships?

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Elderberry:
The Hill by Mark Whittington 6/6/2021

Eric Berger over at Ars Technica has noticed something in the Department of the Air Force section of President Biden’s fiscal 2022 budget proposal. The Air Force is proposing to spend money to study how the Starship rocket being developed by SpaceX could be used to deliver 100 tons of cargo anywhere in the world within one hour. The Starship as a point-to-point cargo hauler may be just the first task that the SpaceX rocket ship is asked to perform.

Certainly, the military would appreciate having the ability to send supplies to any place in the world within an hour. The practical problems of making the Starship work as a cargo hauler would be formidable. A single insurgent with a ground-to-air missile might turn a landing into a fireball.

The Motley Fool, a private investment advice company, is quite bullish on the military potential of the Starship. The company envisions the SpaceX rocket ship performing a variety of military missions from low Earth orbit to the vicinity of the moon. Starship could be used as a mobile, versatile reconnaissance platform, using its store of fuel and six vacuum-optimized Raptor engines to maneuver where it needs to go.

More: https://thehill.com/opinion/technology/557026-is-the-space-force-about-to-acquire-spacex-starships

Elderberry:
The Pentagon Just COPIED SpaceX and Elon Musk

Futurity 6/19/2021

Recently, the U.S Pentagon has been awarding most of its contracts to Elon Musk and his aerospace company, SpaceX! Stay tuned to find out more and subscribe to Futurity.

Here at Futurity, we scour the globe for all the latest tech releases, news and info just so you don't have to! Covering everything from cryptocurrency to robotics, small startups to multinational corporations like Tesla and Jeff Bezos to Elon Musk and everything in between!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5z4AOS-BNA

Elderberry:
U.S. Air Force Buys Into SpaceX Point-to-Point Starship Delivery Service

Motley Fool by Rich Smith 6/19/2021

https://www.fool.com/investing/2021/06/19/us-air-force-buys-into-spacex-point-to-point-stars/


--- Quote ---Four years ago, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk made a startling announcement: The Starship megarocket, that he initially designed to carry humans from Earth to Mars, might have a future right here on Earth as well.

Launching from a sea platform floating off Long Island, New York (for example) at 7 a.m. and flying at an estimated 18,000 miles per hour, a Starship rocket could arrive off the coast of Shanghai, China by 7:39 a.m. (NYC time) -- just 4% of the time it currently takes international airlines to make the trip.

A lot of air travelers might find that prospect appealing. And there's one thing we know for sure: The U.S. Pentagon most definitely finds it appealing.

A threat to airlines?

SpaceX's plans pose a threat to the business models of certain airline companies, which face the possibility, within just a few years, of having to compete not only with a service offering faster transportation than their own airplanes can provide -- but with a transportation company that builds its own "airplanes" (i.e., rockets).

Still, as I explained at the time Musk laid out his point-to-point plans, this isn't an existential crisis for airlines. Starships need to launch from locations somewhat removed from population centers (because of the sonic booms), and ideally from launch pads on the ocean, meaning that a point-to-point Starship transportation service can really only service international routes between various coastal cities. It wouldn't be much use for regional trips within a single country.

The high g-forces of a rocket launch could also limit Starship's utility in passenger service, as not all passengers (the very young, the very old, the infirm) might be able to stand the strain of high-speed rocket launches and landings.

More at link.
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