Wilson testified that the emergence of the commercial space industry has proven a boon for the US military. "The benefit we're seeing now is competition," she said. "There are some very exciting things happening in commercial space that bring the opportunity for assured access to space at a very competitive price."The admission came in response to a question from Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), who asked about the military's capability for a rapid response to military space needs. After picking up a model of the X-37B and showing it to committee members, Wilson said the addition of companies like SpaceX, as well as other launch firms, was expanding the capacity of the military and significantly lowering costs.The US military has not said what the X-37B has been doing up in space for years at a time, beyond furthering "operations development for reusable space vehicle technologies." In addition to testing surveillance technology, some experts think the Air Force may be working on equipment that could be incorporated into a human-rated version of the vehicle that could carry a flight crew. Among the applications contemplated for the X-37B would be the recovery of satellites for repair on Earth.Some military advisers have begun urging the Air Force to embrace the commercial space industry more completely.
@IridiumBoss: Cool Bulgaria/ @SpaceX using stage from @IridiumComm launch. We'd do the same -- with a big discount.
Iridium’s Matt Desch says company might be open to launching on a previously-flown Falcon 9 in 2nd half of eight-launch series next year.
Iridium’s Desch: We want to see steeper discount than what SpaceX currently offers to switch to a reused Falcon 9 booster, but open to it.
Haven't seen that kind of discount, but we can't wait a year or two. It's not just $$, but an issue of whether it improves our schedule.
Insurance always a consideration, but with a few more good reflights, expect won't be much of an issue. BTW, ins isn't only cause of wait..
Thanks for asking.Hmm, doesn't that rather undercut the 'need' for a big discount? Sounding more like a negotiating position. I suspect schedule is rather more important to Iridium - as delays likely to mean more in lost revenue than potential discount?
“That’s the first thing: will they improve my schedule, because schedule to me is very very important.”
I like Matt but I think he's jawboning to try to get a better discount by using PR to his advantage. Good for him.
There's only so fast they can swap the new sats into their constellation and the planning and scheduling for that is one major consideration for how rapidly they actually want to launch. Other client side considerations are their satellite production rate as well as staffing/resources for payload prep at the launch site. I'm sure there are others.
Quote from: Lar on 06/21/2017 03:20 amI like Matt but I think he's jawboning to try to get a better discount by using PR to his advantage. Good for him.Almost like in a free market!
Quote from: AncientU on 06/21/2017 01:05 pmQuote from: Lar on 06/21/2017 03:20 amI like Matt but I think he's jawboning to try to get a better discount by using PR to his advantage. Good for him.Almost like in a free market! Exactly. This is part of the Musk vision and I bet Elon is glad to see it even if it's a bit of pseudo-gibing at his expense.
HASC sbcmt just adopted (voice) Franks amendment saying AF should use reusable rockets when safe and makes sense. (Pro-reusability)
Would have to see exact wording, but in direction of goodnss. Its in US intrsts that ALL gov agencies, incl NASA, promote & encourage RLVs.
House Armed Services Committee weighs in:QuoteHASC sbcmt just adopted (voice) Franks amendment saying AF should use reusable rockets when safe and makes sense. (Pro-reusability)https://twitter.com/SpcPlcyOnline/status/877901895242797057QuoteWould have to see exact wording, but in direction of goodnss. Its in US intrsts that ALL gov agencies, incl NASA, promote & encourage RLVs.https://twitter.com/davehuntsman/status/877927306404126720
On the eve of the launch of his country’s first communications satellite on a Falcon 9 rocket, the chief executive of BulgariaSat credited SpaceX’s cost-cutting ways with making space accessible for small nations and money-conscious companies like his own.Maxim Zayakov, CEO of BulgariaSat and its affiliate television provider Bulsatcom, told Spacefight Now that SpaceX’s push to reduce the cost of space transportation has yielded tangible results for his country.“People don’t realize that, for small countries and small companies like us, without SpaceX, there was no way we would ever be able to even think about space,” Zayakov said. “With them, it was possible. We got a project. I think, in the future, it’s going to be even more affordable because of reusability.”
