Re:Why India's Mars mission is so cheap – and thrilling
by Retric on Thursday September 25, 2014 @10:54AM
(#8367485)
That's completely untrue. At several points rodket production has been ramped down because demand was so low. The real issue is getting mass to orbit is stupid expencive. So, minimizing how much stuff needs to be in orbit is a huge priority. At the same time it takes little effort to give satilites a fairly long lifespan because solar power is abundant and most orbits are stable.
PS: In the end there is a fairly small list of things satilites can do, they can measure things, relay information, or act as a beacon. Useful, but we don't exactly need 10 independent world wide GPS platforms.
PS: In the end there is a fairly small list of things satilites can do, they can measure things, relay information, or act as a beacon. Useful, but we don't exactly need 10 independent world wide GPS platforms.