This is the first I have heard they were doing this. Makes spacex accomplishments less impressive. Fuck elon

Deorbiting is all well and good, but more and more we're finding that these satellites contain chemicals that are very disruptive to the ozone layer. It's going to be CFCs all over again, but with even more corporate capture of government.

The satellite constellation is the natural consequence of cheaper rockets. It's a true paradigm shift, but the pioneer in this case has only the moat of being able to spend less money per launch. If someone else can deliver payloads to low earth orbit for less than $2,000/kg, then they'll easily be able to launch a Starlink competitor.

Honda is cool they build robotics and the best motorbikes in the world per cost

There’s a YouTube channel called BPS Space where this guy spent 7 years learning how to land a model rocket space x style. He talked about how much you can learn about real rocket science even from a small model.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SH3lR2GLgT0

Again, the only possible player that could do that any time soon is blue origin/Amazon.

Stoke Space is working on a fully reusable rocket though, I'm really impressed with their rocket concept, some very smart design choices were made. They do have working hardware and have demonstrated their core engine. But I have no idea how close they are to first launch tests, I expect it will be a while

You mean like Starship?

That's a fair point. The alternative is taking things up to a "graveyard orbit" somewhere between LEO and GSO, to a particularly unpopular altitude, where nobody's fighting for real estate. Satellites can sit there indefinitely, you could even clump them up in a big ball, the tiny pull of gravity they have is actually enough to keep them bunched together.

The only problem with that plan is that it takes a lot of energy to raise an orbit that much, I'm not sure how to make that feasible.

Again, the only possible player that could do that any time soon is blue origin/Amazon.

Stoke Space is working on a fully reusable rocket though, I'm really impressed with their rocket concept, some very smart design choices were made. They do have working hardware and have demonstrated their core engine. But I have no idea how close they are to first launch tests, I expect it will be a while

Your original comment said 2050, which is a long way off. SpaceX's first launch attempt was in 2006, their first successful launch was in 2008, their first successful recovery of a rocket in reusable condition was in 2015, and first reused a rocket in 2017. If they can make progress on that kind of timeline, why wouldn't someone else be able to?

And Hyundai is making hydrogen powered tanks, what a world. I wonder if hydrogen fuels poses any unique risks as compared to petrol.

You are missing the point that size makes a difference. Obviously SpaceX has the technology to do what Honda did, but SpaceX can do ti with a real rocket.
But they can't do it with the bigger Starship rocket. Scale matters.

The only problem with that plan is that it takes a lot of energy to raise an orbit that much, I'm not sure how to make that feasible.

Lowering the orbit takes energy, too, unless you're relying solely on atmospheric drag.

If they can make progress on that kind of timeline, why wouldn't someone else be able to?

That's a fair point. Keep in mind though, it takes a while to get a whole constellation up in orbit and get all the kinks worked out, Starlink was first usable in 2020. So in total it took them in the area of 14 years from start to finish. It's also worth noting, that nobody in the space industry has really ever been able to move as fast as spaceX, they're something of an anomaly, not the norm.

So could a new company do it in 14 years? Yeah, that's definitely possible. It could happen by 2039, but I wouldn't put money on it. 25 years seems more likely.

We won't live that long.

And when SpaceX does it with real full size rockets and they explode scattering debris and chemicals everywhere, the nearby towns pay the price.

I don't see any towns being decimated by Honda's approach.

N420HA. Not sure if that's the model or the plane's license plate but either way hell yeah

Imo it's a good thing tho. Spreading our civilization across multiple planets is the only way to guarantee long long term success. Obviously we should also fix the climate change issue (and many others). But still, being spread across the solar system would give our species redundancy. An extinction event on earth like a large meteor strike would no longer be the end.

Not saying they don’t. Just saying the “ungodly hours” statement may not apply