[stoolpigeon]

SpaceX is reusing spaceships, landing them, catching rockets in chopstick contraptions. But a spaceship that lands near its launchpad can also land anywhere in the world. In an hour. Loaded with military might.

No - no they can't. Referencing Starship Troopers is appropriate because this is fiction.

[Telemakhos]

It's an old military dream; Ithacus [0] was a 1966 concept for a vertical take-off, vertical landing troop transport rocket that could put 1200 soldiers plus materiel anywhere in the world in an hour. Issues that others have brought up here (like the vehicle being mistaken for a nuclear missile) were brought up then, and the obvious flaws killed the project.

As [0] points out, and as I vividly recall from the antiquated books of my childhood, a similar concept was prominent in the 1979 Usborne Book of the Future. The idea of being able to put boots on the ground anywhere within an hour is probably still a military dream somewhere, although I don't think US doctrine has a place for that right now, since achieving air supremacy over the theater, a prerequisite to boots on the ground, would probably take longer than an hour.

[0] https://blog.firedrake.org/archive/2015/12/Ithacus_and_SUSTA...

[richardw]

Don’t need air supremacy if the boots are attached to ground drones. We’re not far off from a starship equivalent deploying a cloud of ground and air drones, some of which could help effect the air supremacy required. Like rapid dragon but more variations of deployed materiel and…a lot more rapid.

[WillAdams]

You do want control of the airspace if you want the operation to be affordable, otherwise, you're pouring resources into a drone grinder (to mix metaphors).

[fnordpiglet]

Why would you try to land the rocket at the destination rather than re entering a pod and parachuting its contents past critical burn independently? We already do high speed spy plane HALO since the 1960’s, this would be more controlled and the rocket could bring massive payloads like tanks.

It would be more useful for the launch vehicle to return to its original pad for relaunch. It’s not like you’re going to refuel and refit it on the battlefield.

[literalAardvark]

Yep. If a ballistic missile such as this one ends up aimed at Europe logistics will be the last thing on everyone's mind.

[Coffeewine]

I agree, that line jumped out at me. They need the chopstick contraption, it isn’t available worldwide!

[pinewurst]

The booster needs chopsticks, but the Starship payload (theoretically as it hasn’t happened yet) does not.

[ItsHarper]

The current version of it does, it only has catch pins, no landing legs.

[rbanffy]

Good luck not getting shot down during a mostly ballistic trajectory.