Can anyone realistically challenge SpaceX’s launch supremacy?
And if its boss now tries to kill NASA’s own heavy lifter, will that matter?
Elon Musk’s appointment as Donald Trump’s waste-cutter-in-chief involves at least one glaring conflict of interest. A paradigm example of waste, which would be near the top of any cutter’s hit list, is the Space Launch System (SLS), a rocket designed to carry 95-tonne payloads into orbit to support America’s plan to return astronauts to the Moon. Adjusted for inflation, it has so far cost more than $30bn—and has been launched just once. Moreover, it has an obvious and much cheaper commercial rival in the form of Starship, a vehicle with a greater capacity and which, unlike the SLS, is reusable. Starship was developed by SpaceX. But, as the world knows, SpaceX’s boss is Mr Musk.
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This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline “Rockets galore”
From the December 7th 2024 edition
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