The launch of a new rocket is always an exciting event. SpaceX’s ‘go fast and fail’ approach means that even though the test ended with engineers blowing up the rocket, it was a valuable first flight.
Rocket emissions in the upper atmosphere can damage the ozone layer but are neither measured nor regulated. It’s a policy gap we have to close if the space industry is to grow sustainably.
Chances are small that space junk will destroy property or harm a person, and existing space law could deal with such an event. But current law doesn’t address the bigger problem of space pollution.
This are looking up when it comes to launching things into space from Australia. The rules on what can be launched are currently under review and open for comment.
We’ve launched rockets from Woomera in South Australia, but in reality Australia could support multiple launch sites. And the closer to the equator, typically the better.
Proposed changes to Australia’s space activities legislation do little to inspire confidence in the government’s approach to a commercial space industry.
Automatic feedback control is what enabled the Falcon Heavy rocket boosters to land. It also drives most of our technology – and even describes the fundamentals of how humans and animals behave.
SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy could propel two fully loaded city buses more than 50 times the height of Mount Everest at 32 times the cruising speed of a Boeing 747.