45th Space Wing gears up for surge in launch activity - SpaceNews.com
In what I believe to be positive news, this seems like remarkably good timing [especially for a government entity]. The Space Wing has appointed a new Tzar to lead the range transition from legacy launch rates to something significantly higher, and at least as far as the sound bites go it seems like they found the right person. The goal is basically a launch per week. Hand-waving past the article's hand-wave of who will actually will make up the majority of those launches, that's ~double this year's manifest.
This is huge, because range capacity is really one of the two major practical constraints on manifest execution--the other, obviously, being payload availability. (Its clear to most that SpaceX, if nobody else, is willing to huck more things into space, and all indications suggest that on the launcher side they're capable of doing what's necessary to achieve these higher rates.)
The other major topic in the linked article, [in context, somewhat appropriately] buried in the second half, is reiterating the fact that Florida is proactively committed to the future of space, including the 'little guys'. Whether they're backing the right players with the right proportions is another question, but I wouldn't be surprised to see a real battle between the states of Florida and Texas to win the majority of SpaceX's manifest. We know SpaceX's to-date perspective boils down to a general 'commercial in TX, government in FL' split, but IMHO the appointment of Schiess and Florida's push to keep space work (its not just launchers) has the potential to really influence that perspective.
Marginally related, are there any non-government controlled orbital launch pads in the US beside the proposed Boca Chica site?
In what I believe to be positive news, this seems like remarkably good timing [especially for a government entity]. The Space Wing has appointed a new Tzar to lead the range transition from legacy launch rates to something significantly higher, and at least as far as the sound bites go it seems like they found the right person. The goal is basically a launch per week. Hand-waving past the article's hand-wave of who will actually will make up the majority of those launches, that's ~double this year's manifest.
This is huge, because range capacity is really one of the two major practical constraints on manifest execution--the other, obviously, being payload availability. (Its clear to most that SpaceX, if nobody else, is willing to huck more things into space, and all indications suggest that on the launcher side they're capable of doing what's necessary to achieve these higher rates.)
The other major topic in the linked article, [in context, somewhat appropriately] buried in the second half, is reiterating the fact that Florida is proactively committed to the future of space, including the 'little guys'. Whether they're backing the right players with the right proportions is another question, but I wouldn't be surprised to see a real battle between the states of Florida and Texas to win the majority of SpaceX's manifest. We know SpaceX's to-date perspective boils down to a general 'commercial in TX, government in FL' split, but IMHO the appointment of Schiess and Florida's push to keep space work (its not just launchers) has the potential to really influence that perspective.
Marginally related, are there any non-government controlled orbital launch pads in the US beside the proposed Boca Chica site?
