01-02-2019, 07:47 AM
I wonder, even if this endeavor were to get off the ground, how far will Alaska Aerospace be able to go before the same old "the costs of doing business in Hawaii" (especially when it involves a lot of shipping) proves once again to be prohibitive? How long before our remoteness goes from being an asset to being a liability and poof Alaska Aerospace is shuttered? Or, do we have something so precious, real-estate in reach of that equatorial orbit, that we can anticipate being a player for a long time to come?
And besides, there are a lot of other companies in the space race right now, and the guys that have the really deep pockets are driving the industry hard. When compared to the likes of SpaceX and the other bigger companies jockeying for position, is Alaska Aerospace, who seems to be a fairly lean (under 100mil) company, going to remain competitive against them?
The other question, raised earlier, as to why not partner with the feds and use Barking Sands is one I would love to hear the answer to before any real consideration of building another launch facilities gets too serious.
In order to get in to the space launch game I think the county/state should be leading the way. As they did with geothermal they should study and identify and create an astronomical (or whatever it should be called) sub zone and as such put the effort into identifying where there is a real possibility for this type of endeavor and create zoning for it before we have companies try to do this sort of thing without that initial guidance. But without forward thinking, and acting, politicians we will never be that farsighted again. As it is Harry can say nice things but what is he and the rest of Hawaii county government actually doing?
And besides, there are a lot of other companies in the space race right now, and the guys that have the really deep pockets are driving the industry hard. When compared to the likes of SpaceX and the other bigger companies jockeying for position, is Alaska Aerospace, who seems to be a fairly lean (under 100mil) company, going to remain competitive against them?
The other question, raised earlier, as to why not partner with the feds and use Barking Sands is one I would love to hear the answer to before any real consideration of building another launch facilities gets too serious.
In order to get in to the space launch game I think the county/state should be leading the way. As they did with geothermal they should study and identify and create an astronomical (or whatever it should be called) sub zone and as such put the effort into identifying where there is a real possibility for this type of endeavor and create zoning for it before we have companies try to do this sort of thing without that initial guidance. But without forward thinking, and acting, politicians we will never be that farsighted again. As it is Harry can say nice things but what is he and the rest of Hawaii county government actually doing?