What is the benefit?
Other than bragging rights.
It promises to be a busy few years for British spaceflight. Astronaut Tim Peake is due to return to the European Space Agency (ESA) and the UK's first vertical launches are set to take place in Scotland. The Register spoke to the Libby Jackson of the UK Space Agency during July's Blue Dot Festival, who told us that Peake's …
The question is perfectly legitimate though, why not have a try at answering it?
I regret that I don't know myself so don't take me seriously, but aside from the undeniable political considerations, there must be an element exploring new frontiers in the hope of discovering new markets and business opportunities? A bit like colonialism, I suppose?
Hardly 'new frontiers'. The best the UK is going to do is spend a lot of money launching a small payload into low Earth orbit. There's lots of better uses for that money. (..and the 'strictly commercial' angle doesn't fly either -- the UK is having a problem just figuring how to sell affordable rail tickets so they're unlikely to develop a way to cheaply put things in orbit; based on past form I'd guess these ventures are more about finding and exploiting subsidies than actually getting things done.)
> Hardly 'new frontiers'. The best the UK is going to do is spend a lot of money launching a small payload into low Earth orbit. There's lots of better uses for that money.
I wholeheartedly agree, but I understood the question to be about potential benefits from the (possibly delusional) point of view of those spending the money, not of those footing the bill (taxpayers and/or investors).
The point will soon be moot. Musk's Spaceship is likely to have it's first go at an orbital launch within the next few weeks (no earlier than 1st Sept, though) and the manned version is to be designed to launch 100 bods at a time. If his ideas come to reality any manned access to space will be via his system.
As for small satellites (cubesats of various sizes) there are already launch providers who will take your money off you and send your little box to space now. You can book a rideshare on the amazing Falcon 9, that goes up once a week, or you could use Rocket Lab's Electron, launched from New Zealand -- equally impressive in its own way -- that goes up once per month.
The Bearded One's huge whopper is hung from a 747 and has gone up three times to date -- if all goes well the fourth flight will be from Newquay next month.
Britain has been a significant player in satellite construction, but it always makes me laugh when they show figures for the British space industry and include, in the 40,000 employees, 20,000 that work for Sky and Virgin TV! When I think of a job in the space industry I picture some bod trying to dodge the splashes of hypergolic fuel as they load a spacecraft, not Gladys working in the call centre.
Still, with our current crop of highly professional politicians needing a big win story, I can see how news of a successful launch of a phallic device is appealing.
"it always makes me laugh when they show figures for the British space industry and include, in the 40,000 employees, 20,000 that work for Sky and Virgin TV! "
Even _within_ the British space sector, the number of people is vastly overstated. Lots of theory researchers get lumped in as "constructors" when at best they're data consumers
I'm not running down researchers. Just the calculation methods used. There is a tiny number of highly passionate people involved on the construction side and most of them are there DESPITE the best efforts of politcians and civil servants
> The point will soon be moot.
I'm not sure. I agree with your post, but even if the UK only gets a very small piece of the pie, that means having at least some expertise in a field that, economically, looks promising in the coming decades.
Whether the price paid for such expertise is worth the cost, that is a different matter.
I recall the (US) FAA put a a bit of a kybosh on LOHAN back in the day, maybe this is a good time to take advantage of new rules being made up etc to pull a bit of a fast one? Yeah, I know it's unlikely, but we can but dream!
Just noticed there's no Paris icon any more, I'll have to use an alien...
The first question should be "Where is LOHAN"?.
I suspect it's in a dusty forgotten corner of Spaceport America, if it's not been trashed already.
I fear that a lot more than enthusiasm was lost when we lost Lester.
If I was allowed to (medical condition), I'd raise a beer to his memory. Maybe someone else can do it for me.