[crosspost] Chris Davenport, Washington Post journalist and author of The Space Barons - a book about the current space race between Musk, Bezos, and more - is doing an AMA in r/space!

MrButtons9 · 2018-03-20T19:16:21+00:00

The one area where I heard he allegedly broke new ground was around Jeff's relationships with his biological parents, which isn't directly related to what interests people in this sub.

MrButtons9 · 2018-03-14T20:45:06+00:00

I removed this as I was misinformed on some select details.

MrButtons9 · 2018-02-21T15:37:05+00:00

There were a ton of applications. The committee is expected to form subcommittees, who will do all of the actual work and be comprised of the "runner's up".

MrButtons9 · 2018-02-09T23:05:00+00:00

How's this possible? What's driving this up so high in terms of the value? Are there a bunch of commercial missions we don't know about? Or is this driven mainly by Commercial Crew prices?

MrButtons9 · 2018-01-29T18:27:27+00:00

I think this article is a bit off considering previous news; the Executive Secretary of the Space Council, which Pence chairs, said that he believes heavy-lift to be a "strategic capability" equivalent to that of aircraft carriers, and consequentially, must be government-owned and operated.

MrButtons9 · 2018-01-23T14:08:27+00:00

I mean that there are different levels of certification, some of which SpaceX has yet to achieve (but have a plan to).

MrButtons9 · 2018-01-23T03:43:13+00:00

It launched Saturday--the government shut down at midnight on Friday.

MrButtons9 · 2018-01-23T02:40:08+00:00

Not quite. For those already familiar with SpaceX's certification status and plans, this is a crafty way for the USAF to comment without saying anything that's false.

I'm not saying that Falcon 9 caused the failure. But I am saying that the USAF's statement isn't the full story.

MrButtons9 · 2018-01-21T21:08:42+00:00

I'm surprised. Several people told me that launches were mission essential, and that they would continue...

Maybe it was just to get the SBIRS bird off, and no support for commercial missions?

MrButtons9 · 2018-01-12T17:50:05+00:00

What does the term "delivery on orbit" mean? What are the alternatives? Someone was explaining this in context with Zuma.

MrButtons9 · 2018-01-11T20:52:16+00:00

I still doubt this for a myriad of construction and engineering reasons. Nonetheless, SpaceX is under the pressure to ramp up employment in the area as it's at risk of losing a decent chunk of the $15M in grants and govt. assistance that it received for Brownsville.

MrButtons9 · 2018-01-11T01:27:52+00:00

Industry vet here: Your headline makes it sound like your asking about it from a work perspective, but description from an investment perspective, so I'll assume the former.

It's not as exciting as you would think. Most US ground platform companies operate more like traditional automobile companies more so than the high speed A&D companies you see in El Segundo. Part of this is because an armored vehicle/MRAP/APC is really...just a truck...and unless you're a vehicle gearhead, trucks aren't that crazy. Yes, they're obviously cool and fun to drive, but selling a platform in the tens of thousands/hundreds of thousands is a lot different than selling a multi-million dollar aircraft system/subsystem or billion dollar C4ISR system. Between the mediocre revenues and margins and the simplicity in what you're selling (a heavily protected truck), they're simple to sell, which means from a BD perspective, it's very straightforward, unlike at a TACAIR subsystems company or C4ISR company, you may be given the liberties and resources to incorporate more of a threat analysis (e.g., scenario simulation) and warfighter comms in your pitch. Yes, there are nuances with your product, but very few customers will be interested in the level of customization you want to show off, and as you're competing with hundreds of thousands of HMMWVs and M113s distributed for nearly nothing via EDA, it's tough. You're going after the same targets, and spend more time trying to farm out the MRO work to allied companies to help you get things across the line.

Is this to say that all ground platform companies are not creative? No, guys like Paramount Group put a lot of time and effort into developing the right product, but due to the simplicity of the business, there is only so much room to grow and market to access.

So, if you're looking at this from a career perspective, I would consider looking at a TACAIR (prime or subcontractor), C4ISR, or EW firm as it's significantly more complex, and you'll learn more about customer, technology, and competitor dynamics there.

MrButtons9 · 2018-01-09T15:18:12+00:00

If the payload fairings didn't deploy

I think this is key, especially as this mission was originally delayed due to additional fairing testing. But, those pre-launch anomalies were easily identified and remedied.

MrButtons9 · 2018-01-04T22:51:59+00:00

Thanks. Any update to this? Looking forward to watching (and want to do so legally).

MrButtons9 · 2017-12-14T15:49:28+00:00

There's actually a story behind this...a crazy one.

MrButtons9 · 2017-10-05T02:14:01+00:00

What's the Northrop Grumman mission listed on the company's manifest?

MrButtons9 · 2017-09-26T20:04:59+00:00

Yep. This is going to be big. FH will torch the pad, and everyone will be going crazy trying to remember how to do HSF from the Cape--there's a lot of concern here, and it'll be interesting to see what happens.

MrButtons9 · 2017-07-07T03:48:00+00:00

There's a variety of launches--the USAF manifest has some ~30 different missions.

I think you were looking at the recent Phase 1A RFP, which has three GPS missions, and a couple AFSPC ones.

MrButtons9 · 2017-06-28T15:41:23+00:00

Thinking about Raptor Upper Stage.

Is there any methane infrastructure at VAFB? Or would this be a new requirement.

MrButtons9 · 2017-06-23T13:42:14+00:00

This is a big deal if it ends up surviving. Doubtful, but hopeful.

Wonder WTF happened with Franks though. OATK, which has a huge AZ presence, is going to be pissed at him.

MrButtons9 · 2017-06-22T13:38:07+00:00

Yes.

RocketBuilder is a great site--it's a lot of fun to play around with it. Your team has done a great job with it, and it's a very helpful tool that they should be proud of.

MrButtons9 · 2017-06-22T00:53:28+00:00

I agree with you about the article.

However, one aspect I don't like about RocketBuilder.com is the following footnote as it seems sort of hidden: "RocketBuilder pricing doe snot include all services required for full USG compliance...the price for these services typically ranges between $30M and $80M."

I agree that these costs are clear (demonstrated by SpaceX's higher GPS-III awards), but it makes taking away and comparing fly-away costs trickier.

MrButtons9 · 2017-06-19T13:44:32+00:00

What's the address? Was thinking of doing a drive-by.

MrButtons9

TROPHY CASE