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SpaceX Returns To Flight, And Nails Another Drone Landing (cnn.com)

Applehu Akbar writes: SpaceX successfully launched a 10-satellite Iridium NEXT package, and then landed on a drone ship — this time from Vandenburg AFB in California. The launch had been delayed several days by this week's record rainfall and flooding.
CNN has video of the launch, and points out its obvious significance. "Because rockets are worth tens of millions of dollars, and they have historically been discarded after launch, mastering the landing is key to making space travel more affordable... Saturday's launch marks the seventh time SpaceX has successfully landed a rocket."

12 of 129 comments (clear)

  1. Re: Great strides by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Delivering services for money is not getting free money...smh

  2. Re:Sweet by Areyoukiddingme · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Can't wait to see how much more free money the govt. gives them.

    So now building an object 23 stories tall that can fly into orbit is free? Good to know.

    Or maybe you're just an asshole.

  3. Re:Sweet by Rob+Riggs · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Russia trolling /. They're pissed that the U.S. won't have to buy Russian rocket engines. Seems some people with sense in D.C. realized having an adequate native heavy lift capability was strategically important.

    --
    the growth in cynicism and rebellion has not been without cause
  4. Re: Sweet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Space-X sells services that the government needs at a much lower price than anyone else. Should pizzas be free just because they are ordered by the government? No and it's the same with Space-X's Launch services. You have to be willfully obtuse to argue that the money Space-X earns is "free":

  5. Re: Sweet by WindBourne · · Score: 4, Insightful

    no, the assholes are those screaming about it, but backing the competitors who are getting 3-10x as much subsidies.

    --
    I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
  6. Re: Sweet by WindBourne · · Score: 5, Insightful

    well, the Asshole Coward before does have a point that the feds HAVE given SpaceX money. In particular, they have given 300 M to SpaceX to help develop Dragon, F1, and F9. Of course, it was a billion to build everything, so most money came from private funding.
    What Asshole Coward purposely lies about is that ULA gets 1B / year for the last 10 years, AND SpaceX has lowered the costs of launch to the gov so much, that in the first couple of years, the feds made back their 300 Million.

    And if the Asshole Coward tries to bring up 'gov subsidies' for Tesla/Solar City, he will only make more of an asshole out of himself.

    --
    I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
  7. Making America great again by Michael+Woodhams · · Score: 4, Insightful

    What do people mean when they say "make America great again"? My understanding is that they want a USA which is making new innovative industries, employing lots of people in the USA with high paying jobs, and making profit in the process (the more the better.) Elon Musk is the poster child for doing all of those things - yet many people crying "Make America great again" are trying to tear him down. The kindest explanation is that they are so blinded by ideology that they can't think straight.

    --
    Quattuor res in hoc mundo sanctae sunt: libri, liberi, libertas et liberalitas.
    1. Re:Making America great again by drinkypoo · · Score: 3, Insightful

      What do people mean when they say "make America great again"? My understanding is that they want a USA which is making new innovative industries, employing lots of people in the USA with high paying jobs, and making profit in the process

      What they actually mean is "make America great for white people again" because it was never great for anyone else. Time was, even the lowest, most useless white person had an edge over darker-colored people in the job market, which kept them employed at a time when there were enough jobs to employ all the white people. So point the first, they're racist fucks, whether they actually even know it or not. Point the second, they're idiots and dumbfucks, because you can't turn back the clock. Soon there will not be enough jobs for anyone and it won't matter what color you are. The world is already trending that way; as we diminish racial inequality (still going strong, but less so than in the past) we simply stratify still further along economic lines. Or as the saying goes, the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer.

      People who want to "Make America Great Again" are racists. Full fucking stop.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  8. Re: Sweet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

    the poor just drink beer and smoke crack and shoot each other, waste of $$$$

  9. Re: Awesome by Rei · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Most of Europe agrees with you. And even the US agrees with you up through high school plus with various forms of assistance for college, including state-subsidies, particularly for state colleges, and federal subsidies (direct subsidies, tax credits, and tax breaks), roughly $80B/year each. Pell grants alone cost the government $35B.

    --
    Dear Diary...today I was pompous and my sister was crazy.
  10. Re:Awesome by naughtynaughty · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Awesome, hating on Elon for having a private company pay to launch private satellites on a private launch vehicle.

    Successfully

    At a lower price than the competition

  11. Re: Awesome by naughtynaughty · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Free as in "Here's $3B in free money Elon, have a party or buy a yacht or do whatever you want with it" or was it free like "Here is $3B Elon, please build the following rockets so we can use them instead of expensive Russian rockets"?

    You and I likey disagree as to what constitutes "free money".