Sub-$200 Lidar Could Reshuffle Auto Sensor Economics

Re:Sub-$200 Lidar Could Reshuffle Auto Sensor Economics by Aperocky on Monday February 23, 2026 @11:54AM (#47124921)

> difference between suborbital flight and putting a payload in orbit. What looks like a next logical step actually takes 10X or more effort, scale, and testing.

But suborbital flight and payload in orbit is much less of a difference than you might think.

The delta V is not that significantly different. Scale is almost the same, and a little bit more power and (second stage) your payload is now hurtling around the earth instead of falling like an ballistic missile which was what their suborbital predecessors are.

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Re:Sub-$200 Lidar Could Reshuffle Auto Sensor Economics by mapt on Monday February 23, 2026 @11:57AM (#47124971)

Suborbital ballistic "travel" beyond continental distances, is almost as expensive as orbital. If you can make it to the antipode, you're basically almost orbital.

Suborbital "trips" straight up, beyond the atmosphere, are very cheap.

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