Every week that goes by seems to present a new opportunity for people to under appreciate just how unique of a business SpaceX is.
This week, SpaceX conducted its third test flight of its Starship rocket. This rocket is special because is the model built to take humans to the moon, and ultimately to Mars. The craft completed a “nominal first [and] second stage burn, orbital insertion, and the first [and] second stage were discarded.” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson referred to the launch as a “successful test flight.”
However, the upper stage broke up on re-entry. One commentator put it this way:
“During hypersonic re-entry, the upper stage withstood howling plasma and hellish temperatures for several minutes before breaking apart at an altitude of 65 kilometers, instead of making a high-speed belly flop into the southern Indian Ocean as planned.”
Several media outlets chose to frame the launch with more focus on the failure of one aspect, rather than the success of a core stated mission goal, which was to get the largest, most powerful rocket ever built into orbit. Despite some common skepticism of SpaceX’s accomplishments, the reality is the company is generational in what its unlocked.
In a report last July, the New York Times stated that 53% of all active satellites were Starlink satellites. From defense, to networking, to telecom—Starlink represents a massive revolution in internet connectivity. A revolution that was made possible because of the drastic shift in the cost paradigm of getting payloads into space that SpaceX has made possible.
Increasingly, companies like SpaceX will continue to push the boundaries of technological progress. The question will be whether the majority of people choose to celebrate the accomplishments? Or focus more on negative concerns they have with that progress, the results of the progress, or even personal vendettas they have against people like Elon Musk.
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