Re:China's new Long March-8 rocket makes first flight
by baybal2 on Wednesday December 23, 2020 @07:30AM
(#25516871)
> in the next 10 years they'll all going to struggle to develop re-usable rockets that can keep pace with SpaceX.
National space programmes don't even need to have re-usable hardware.
Building hardware to be mission specific for 2-3 launches per year may well be cheaper than to re-engineer, and then reuse.
Saturn 5 is sixties technology, parts, and materials.
The biggest thing that contenders in national space programmes lack is really a match of talent with sane leadership. This is the thing that was exposed times, and times again by successes of Indian space programme.
National space programmes don't even need to have re-usable hardware.
Building hardware to be mission specific for 2-3 launches per year may well be cheaper than to re-engineer, and then reuse.
Saturn 5 is sixties technology, parts, and materials.
The biggest thing that contenders in national space programmes lack is really a match of talent with sane leadership. This is the thing that was exposed times, and times again by successes of Indian space programme.