Should private companies be banned from launching rockets?

[purplepoppy]

One of Musk's SpaceX rockets has blown up on launch AGAIN. Is it time to stop rich arseholes playing games before they crash a rocket into a city killing thousands?

[StormChaser838]

Hey, little one ,,,,, u somehow stumble on quite provocative stuff,,,, there's more money than even God can count in the business of putting these rockets up, that's why all the rich bastards are in the game, bezos , branson, musk all,,, shocking as it is , but even you could not have written this message if it was not for those rockets, ever thought of that? the CLOUD, GPS, ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING SMART, etc, etc,,, even the future of war depends on it. And the real estate around the planet in "near space", is limited, so all the rich bastards want in on it. SpaceX was the richest unicorn last year and for sometime. It's just an orgy of pork for the politicians, so even God will not be able to stop it. I guess us little lilliputians have to just bend the fuck over and watch them fall on our asses but nothing is going to stop. Too bad , I guess I know I have a feeling that slim to none of you'll folks, ( save a very small few) may have understood what the fuck I've written, and it's too long and complicated for me to explain, but it's all true and very troubling. Guess ignorance it's bliss, what a curse it is for cunt's such as me to have bitten the apple.

[Siri137]

A future for war is something we could all do without, quite frankly.

[StormChaser838]

@Siri137 Yes Ma'am, you are right, the only problem is we are tools of bigger men. ( Pardon, the unintended pun, if you can get it? ,,,,, but it's true, both the intended and the unintended pun) Hey, Si, do u really live in Antarctica, are u with some research kind of outfit?,,,,, it's my dream to live there and do something like that. Penguins and seals are just too sexy, everything about them.

[Siri137]

The penguins in their tuxedos just look SO dapper.

[StormChaser838]

@Siri137 so u like guys in suits, with slick hair? even girls in suits look uber sexy, but I like them better in the skirt suits not the pant suits. I just love women in midis, even better than minis, I don't know why.

[razelove]

No, not at all. Then it would stop hobby rockets from launching that have no hope of reaching orbit, but are simple ballistic rockets. It's tough enough to get ammonium perchlorate and aluminum to launch rockets with that can go even a mile up in the air.

Why would you want to take away all hope of making a booster the size of a porta-potty that will tear 50 miles up, never achieve orbit, and crash back down far faster then it went up?

Russia got to space first with the dream of crashing objects back into Earth along with the dream of blowing them up. Man's primal dream of blowing things up is what truly gets stuff into space, the accidents that don't crash and explode back into the earth.

I'm willing to bet Sputnik was never supposed to stay up. Rockets are fun as all hell, they do explode a lot though. There are so many less reasons for them to go up in the air compared to the reasons for catastrophic failure.

[Siri137]

"... killing thousands" - You do of course know that rocket launching sites are rather remote places, far from any large cities. Besides, don't you think that rockets launched by governmental agencies (like the ESA, NASA) are just as dodgy most of the time?

No, we need the services of people like Musk, because it's been 50 years now and NASA still hasn't sent anyone to the moon (Dec. 1972 was the last time). No one should rely upon their government to get anything done, because they're just far too incompetent (unless it's the Chinese government, but that's a dictatorship, and we don't want that).

[Kelly6]

Spacex is used by NASA so it means it’s safe.
Only his experiment rockets blow

[Kelly6]

It’s in experimental stage so will be couple of more failures before it in oppression mode.

[Kelly6]

Thanks for MHO

[OlderAndWiser]

Why would you assume that the same could not happen with a government rocket launch?

[PraviteliNahuiValite]

Oh, my dear mortal, private companies launching rockets? Who do they think they are, NASA? It's like watching a bunch of rich arseholes playing with toys that could blow up at any moment. And speaking of blow ups, Musk's SpaceX rockets seem to have a bit of a problem in that department. Maybe he should stick to selling flamethrowers instead of launching them into space!

But in all seriousness, the safety of those around these rockets should be the top priority. We wouldn't want a rocket crashing into a city and causing more damage than a Godzilla movie. So let's hope these private companies take their responsibilities seriously before they send us all back to the Stone Age.

May the Master guide us and protect us from the wrath of these rocket launchers. And may we all have a good laugh at their expense. Amen and hallelujah!

[Anonymous]

A spokesperson interviewed about it on the radio today stated that it was a controlled explosion after 4 minutes of flight, so presumably the whole reason it exploded at all was so that people we're not put at risk as you suggest.

It doesn't fundamentally matter whether something is being done by a private individual, a business, a government or some other non governmental organisation, there is no guarantee that anything is ever being done in a safe or ideal manner, any or all of these could be good or bad.

It is the specific implimentation and people involved which matter.

[NathanDavis]

NASA usually relies on the private sector for its success... Space X just being the newest

also... just because an operation is run by the government that does not mean there's guarantee of being woops free

" There have been at least 32 so-called "broken arrow" accidents – those involving these ~nuclear~ catastrophically destructive, earth-flattening devices – since 1950. In many cases, the weapons were dropped by mistake or jettisoned during an emergency, then later recovered. But three US ~nuclear~ bombs have gone missing altogether – they're still out there to this day, lurking in swamps, fields and oceans across the planet. "

[Static_In_The_Attic]

Whatever goes up must come down & unfortunately a spark here & a boom there does happen from time to time especially during experimental launches. Should private companies be banned NO THEY SHOULD NOT however THEY SHOULD BE CONTROLLED for safety public reasons.

[bolverk]

No, at the moment it is the private companies who are making all of the advances in space tech at the moment, and it is unlikely that any of the rockets they are launching would hit any towns & cities as the launches are over open ocean.
It is of no surprise that the recent SpaceX Starship launch failed as it was a first time launch of a complete vehicle, and they rarely if ever go right first time. if you don't believe me look up the Atlas, Gemini, launches, and the Russians/Chinese/Indians have had their own failures.

[Jersey2]

I think SpaceX has done great things. We now have a reusable rocket, the Falcon 9. Falcon is named after the Millennium Falcon. 9 references the 9 Merlin engines on its first stage which are highly advanced as well. Launches used to cost hundreds of millions USD or even billions. Given that it is reusable it costs about $50 million to launch and take things to space AND it doesn’t pollute the ocean with endless rocket trash.

What just blew up is Starship. The second stage did not separate and therefore had a rapid unscheduled disassembly as they say. It was a success because it got off the launch pad. This is the rocket that will take humans to Mars and there isn’t anything like it is still in development. We will have access to the inner solar system with this rocket. It was also a heavy meaning that it had extra boosters which they haven’t tested on this enormous rocket before.

[Jersey2]

Oh, and the launches are over large bodies of water which have been cleared of boats.

[DCooper]

Next she'll be complaining that Elon is trying to send men to Mars, and not women to Venus :)

[AviatorTom]

No, building the largest most powerful rocket comes with risks. Today's "failure" was actually more successful than expected. More importantly, private companies like SpaceX get the job done much faster than government agencies like NASA or ESA. Just look at how many successful Falcon 9 launches there have been.

[andreasderjuengere]

Welcome to ''freedom'' and to ''capitalism''.

But then... if some rich arsehole decides to become -say- President of some entire country... and decides to piss off some neighbours of his... and as a result rockets of a different kind go down (somewhere else, of course) ... does that make any difference?

''Private'' and ''official'' details are not of the interest of those who stood at the wrong place at the wrong time.

[Leapfrog00]

Rather than banning them, maybe they should create a law making these companies inspect the rockets. Then inspect them again, and again. Then they should be forced to hire people that have experience in the space program. Maybe Ex-astronomers and Ex-astronauts. I'm sure they would love to do it. Astronomers never lose interest in space.

[WindAtMyBack]

SpaceX is a major NASA contractor. They also contract internationally. They aren't going to be banned. Stuff blowing up on the launch pad or in space has been a part of the space program since it started in the 50s. It's safer than it used to be, but it's still very dangerous and anyone going up in a rocket knows they are risking their life.

[bean2k21]

Rick Astley is rich but he's not an arsehole. He knows the rules and he would never hurt you. If given the choice to launch a rocket or potentially blow up a city, Rick would ALWAYS choose the safety of the city. Don't tell me you're too blind to see this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLRyJ0dawjM

[Googlemyahoo]

If it weren’t for Space X the USA wouldn’t have the ability to get into space. I’d recommend watching the documentary on space x. You see they had many “ruds” as they call it. Random unscheduled disassemblies aka explosion.

However they went from fails to landing booster jets and fuel rockets. Its actually pretty amazing.

Unfortunately Musk has been maligned for not being a woke lunatic & many unintelligent people believe the propaganda

[Juxtapose]

Obviously they already have to undergo various safety precautions, which is why you haven't heard of anyone in cities dying from anything like this.

Typical altitude of somebody in the United Kingdom, thinking that only the government should be able to do anything.

[OddBeMe]

No actually. Obviously I hope there’s liasion with NASA because we got a lot of shit up there orbiting,

But Neil degrase Tyson said the first trillionaire will be whomever is first to mine an asteroid. That is how all industrial revolutions progress society and capitalism.

[exitseven]

I think a private company would be more competent than NASA. Anytime the government gets involved with something it is almost always a mess. It is a miracle we went to the moon. Maybe people were smarter back then

[KrakenAttackin]

Such a UK, liberal, attitude. Only the government should ever so anything. You are so well indoctrinated.

[Rangers]

They need to send rockets to destroy cities on purpose, making a city is the worst idea in human history

[Dargil]

NASA lost many over the years. They are launched over the ocean, not over cities.

[FilmGuy93]

I don't see any reason to stop it until they start actually endangering people's lives.

[AngryCarl2]

It's not like NASA are that reliable either. Some things don't work well without private investment.

[Legendarylegacy13]

Lol.. I am not going to comment. But that is such a relevant point... lol...

[Pete671]

Yes, the money would be better spent on providing kids with a safe home and enough to eat,,,

[Anonymous]

Yes they should, that rotten asshole ain't paying enough taxes.

[Amur8711]

And this wouldn't happen to a government program?

[Degenerate]

No..

[eagle1951]

yeah