[lava_pidgeon]

I'm happy to tell you that Nations don't want to be dependent on the US government and Elon Musk.

So there is a big race to build the next SpaceX. And I can assure you building rockets isn't rocket science. Other companies will follow propped up by their governments.

[dismalaf]

> And I can assure you building rockets isn't rocket science.

Is this parody?

> Other companies will follow propped up by their governments.

It's cool to say but it hasn't happened. And rockets literally are, well, rocket science.

[lava_pidgeon]

It does currently happen. In Germany alone there are 3 rocket companies + 1 space vehicle based on governmental programs. You can ask chatgpt for other projects.

And yes, my pun which you didn't get just says: Building rockets isn't hard.

[leonidasrup]

Building large payload cheap dependable rockets capable of reaching orbit with high probability is hard.

[FireBeyond]

Even leaving aside the extremes of industrial espionage or "there's only so much you can learn from SpaceX TV", you can be sure that there are absolutely huge swathes of aerospace engineering education and commercially that are using a lot of SpaceX's work as a Cliff Notes of sorts to help improve their own odds.

[dismalaf]

> And yes, my pun which you didn't get just says: Building rockets isn't hard.

No I get it except it's a ridiculous take. Building rockets is objectively hard.

> In Germany alone there are 3 rocket companies + 1 space vehicle based on governmental programs.

Literally none of them have reached orbit.

[xdavidliu]

its not that they did not get your pun, its that they think building rockets is hard, and i tend to agree

[NuclearPM]

Woosh

[verzali]

Flying rockets is rocket science. Building rockets is engineering.

[xdavidliu]

this comment is nonsensical

[Dig1t]

>I can assure you building rockets isn't rocket science.

This is mind bogglingly wrong.

“[Rocket Science] looks hard and is harder than it looks” is the classic line. Anyone in the industry will tell you how extremely difficult rockets are.

Look at Blue Origin, all the money in the world and it still blows up on the pad. Look at ULA, largest aerospace companies in the world with institutional aerospace talent, backed by nearly unlimited government funding and is nowhere near a reusable rocket, decades behind SpaceX.

You are letting politics blind you to reality.

[snypher]

So what is the secret sauce SpaceX brings to the table? Obviously they have top talent, but if it's not a matter of funding or talent, what makes them stand out?

[Dig1t]

I think it’s a combination of talent and the mission. Most people who work there are true believers in the mission of making life multi-planetary. There are many examples in history of people doing extraordinary things when top talent was combined with belief in a higher calling.

[splitstud]

This is like a pea buried under 7 mattresses of delusion. If you dont like Musk, fine, but cmon man.