Can China catch Elon Musk and SpaceX?

Описание: Space X enjoys a near-monopoly on space launches. The company, founded by Elon Musk, has raced ahead of rivals in Europe and North America by driving down the cost of lifting payloads into orbit.

SpaceX's Starlink system boasts over 6,000 satellites in low-earth orbit, and provides high-quality internet service to the most remote areas of the world. Starlink is also profitable, and is quickly becoming the global industry standard for heavy industry, maritime, aviation, logistics, search and rescue, and even military operations.

China is aggressively attempting to catch up, with huge investments into research and development of reusable rockets, with ambitions to build even larger constellations of low-earth orbit satellites.

For transcript and direct links: https://kdwalmsley.substack.com/p/can...

Resources and links:

Starlink satellites in real time
https://satellitemap.space/?constella...

Starlink home page
https://www.starlink.com/us/technology

Zerohedge, French Media Blames SpaceX For 2,500 Airbus Layoffs As Elon Musk Leads Rocket Race
https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/...
and
https://x.com/ajtourville/status/1846...

SpaceX’s mission to improve Starlink gets pushback from Europe
https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-star...

Politico, How Europe’s rocket program lost big to Elon Musk: The inside story
https://www.politico.eu/article/how-e...

Spectator, SpaceX has put Europe to shame
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/s...

Techcrunch, Internal pre-Starlink SpaceX financials show big spending on moonshot bets
https://techcrunch.com/2024/04/11/int...

Space, Chinese company CAS Space takes steps toward 1st launch of reusable rocket
https://www.space.com/china-cas-space...

Space and Defense, Another Step Forward – China Advances its Reusable Rockets
https://spaceanddefense.io/china-adva...

Bloomberg, In Space, No One Can Hear Musk's Rivals Scream
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/art...

Zerohedge, Satellite Constellation Projects Ready for Takeoff
https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/...

Statista, Satellite Constellation Projects Ready for Takeoff
https://www.statista.com/chart/33246/...

Starlink, meet Qianfan: China’s bold bid to catch up in the satellite race
https://www.thinkchina.sg/technology/...

Bloomberg, Pentagon Deal With Musk’s Starlink in Ukraine Extended Six Months for $14 Million
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articl...

CNN, Ukraine relies on Starlink for its drone war. Russia appears to be bypassing sanctions to use the devices too
https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/25/europe...

Russia’s illicit Starlink terminals help power its advance in Ukraine
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/...

Space X Home Page
https://www.spacex.com/mission/

Aviation Week, Why Is The U.S. Space Industry So Obsessed With Vertical Integration?
https://aviationweek.com/space/commer...

Substack
https://open.substack.com/pub/kdwalms...

Closing scene, Thousand Island Lake, Zhejiang