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Re:Factories in Space by JumpCrisscross on Tuesday May 30, 2023 @11:53AM (#36126334)
> We have to start by assembling in space first

You need to solve the material-cost problem first. Either a space gun / elevator or ISRU. Otherwise, assembling on the ground is cheaper for everything but the most massive objects. (At which point a constellation or fleet usually makes more sense.)

> would allow to use well tested rockets to launch smaller parts instead of trying to build a huge rocket at once

Bigger rockets have moderate economies of scale. Optimising for a particular launch vehicle doesn’t make sense in the long run.

Re:Factories in Space by gshubert17 on Tuesday May 30, 2023 @11:59AM (#36126410)
ISRU - In-Situ Resource Utilization

The farther humans go into deep space, the more important it will be to generate products with local materials, a practice called in-situ resource utilization.