space has long emerged as a strategic
battlefield of Paramount importance for
every nation the US is no exception no
longer confined to battles on land sea
or era the 21st century has ushered in
an era where control and dominance in
outer space Have Become imperative for
National Security as Nations VI for
strategic Advantage beyond the confines
of Earth the stage is set for a new era
of competition and cooperation in the
cosmos for the US military the desire
for the world's largest spacecraft
Starship is not new they've long
anticipated the potential and advantages
that the spacecraft could bring to their
military objectives as Starship becomes
increasingly refined and proven the US
military is developing Boulder plans for
its use one of these plans involves
conducting thousands of SpaceX flights
every year to achieve this in addition
to requiring SpaceX to prepare a
significant amount of Hardware the US
military also needs hundreds of
mechazilla launch toow all this is aimed
at increasing the presence of military
Ary bases launching into space remember
that when assessing a nation's military
strength not to mention its weapons
military bases are the most important
factor for determining a country's power
the US military has about 700 to 850
military bases across the world large
bases simply referred to as bases are
defined as military installations that
cover an area larger than 4 hectares or
10 acres or have a value exceeding $10
million these bases typically
accommodate more than 200 US milit Ary
Personnel according to the US's foreign
bases 439 which accounts for 60% fall
under this category small bases or lily
pads these bases are smaller than four
hectares 10 acres or have a value of
less than $10 million these include
Cooperative security locations and Ford
operating sites the remaining 40% of US
foreign bases fall under this category
just linking the largest military bases
would require approximately 90 launch
Towers meanwhile as a February 2023 the
estimated cost of spacex's mechazilla
launch Towers is less than $100 million
each this cost hasn't significantly
increased even with the addition of the
water Deluge system the metal segments
of the launch towers are not expensive
and the towers are equipped with robotic
arms and the necessary Power Systems to
operate them the US military is
evidently considering thousands of
flights per year utilizing SpaceX a
Starship and potentially hundreds of
mechazilla launch facilities therefore
the construction of a 100 Kazo launch
Tower bases would amount to
approximately $10 billion quite minimal
compared to other military expenditures
on the other hand if each star ship is
flown twice per day for cargo then a
fleet of 20 star ships amounting to 40
flights per day would total about 14,000
flights a year 20 Starships would
necessitate approximately 120 SpaceX
Raptor engines if the Starships could
only fly 100 times before requiring a
major refit or replacement then they
would need replacement or refit every
two months a mass-produced Starship with
an estimated cost of 250 Grand per
engine would amount to approximately $4
to10 million each as of January 2022 the
Boeing c17 Globe Master 3 military jet
is priced at around $340 million even
with an annual cost of $24 to $60
million for refitting or replacing
Starships they'd still be far more cost
effective and quicker compared to the C7
globemaster 3 the c17 incurs an
operating cost of about $22,000 an hour
and has a payload capacity of 85 tons in
contrast the SpaceX Starship can carry
two to three times the payload capacity
and would travel 15 to 30 times faster
than the
c17 this implies that the SpaceX
Starship could accomplish 40 to 80 times
the task of the globe master in an hour
justifying a transport system cost of up
to $800,000 an hour this is also the
unique advantage that makes Starship a
top priority choice for the high-speed
point-to-point transportation program
called Rocket Cargo in early 2022 the US
Air Force awarded SpaceX $102 million
5-year contract as part of what it calls
the rocket cargo program this program is
intended to study how SpaceX could
transport military cargo on its launch
Vehicles using cargo containers
compatible with other modes of
transportation the contract included an
option for a demonstration of that cargo
delivery capability two years into the
effort the military's interest is strong
as ever we looked at the for seven years
in a never made sense recalled Gregory
spers Chief scientist at the Air Force
research lab ARL looking back at the
start of the rocket cargo program but as
we started digging into it we found that
the business case and the cost had
changed
dramatically at the space Mobility
Conference held in Orlando Florida last
month he participated in a panel
discussion concerning the rocket cargo
initiative this program he explained
adopts a three-pronged approach to
assess military viability of Swift cargo
delivery via Rockets the associated
costs and the technical heels
while much attention understandably
gravitates towards technical intricacies
encompassing both rocket functionality
and efficient cargo Transportation
methods he emphasized the critical
necessity for Rapid rocket Readiness
unlike current tactically responsive
launch systems the envisaged Rockets
must be primed for launch within an hour
Additionally the cargo containers must
not only align with terrestrial
Intermodal systems but also shielded
cargo from the harsh conditions of space
trap he suggested that those studies had
turned up no show stoppers for Rocket
cargo so far we're pretty tightly
focused on developing A system that can
go to an ioc initial operating
capability as soon as possible he said
Gary Henry senior adviser for the
National Security space Solutions at
SpaceX was similarly upbeat about the
prospects of using Starship for cargo
delivery Starship is fundamentally meant
to be a rapidly reusable fully reusable
launch vehicle he said it'll put us on a
cost trajectory that'll begin at $200 a
kilogram you'll we'll see if Elon gets
his way and the marginal cost of fuel is
the single biggest driver at cost for
one of these launches he added we're
talking about $20 a kilogram and Below
to low earth orbit that would make it he
argues cost competitive with Air Freight
four companies DHL FedEx ups and the US
Postal Service provide expedited
shipping from the US to China in the
Western Pacific he cited prices they
offered of about $33 a kilogram for
shipping Cargo in 2 to 5 days you think
if you could deliver that same package
10 times faster you might be able to
sell it for $33 a kilogram I think so
Starship Henry noted is not designed
specifically for Point too cargo
delivery but in that role could offer
other significant capabilities Starship
could land with 30 metric tons of cargo
with the potential to increase that over
time and offer a cargo based similar in
volume to a c17 aircraft others on the
panel representing different defense
department offices sounded even more
optimistic about rocket cargo it's a
disruptive technology for the Air Force
that's my number one Rec recommendation
to senior leadership about investment
priorities when it comes to supporting
The Joint War fighting concept said
Colonel Gabe barington chief of the
disruptive technology division of the
Air Force this technology I think has
the opportunity to both promote a
continued free and open indopacific
while also contributing directly to the
war fight if and when that time comes
said Colonel Nathan vosters director of
requirements resources and programs for
us space force Indo Pacific at the very
least this changes the calculus for our
adversaries in the region but what about
the part of the US military charged with
cargo Transportation this could become
another option said Air Force Colonel
Christopher Seaman chief of the strategy
division at us Transportation command or
us transcom it's intriguing to see why
we care he said more work was needed to
better understand the end to-end concept
like pre-positioning cargo at launch
sites so it can be ready for launch
quickly and then after landing getting
the cargo to military forces I don't
think we're there on how the overall
concept would work conversations are
starting to occur to get a good idea of
it the program also needs a cost benefit
analysis in the near term no one's
getting around the fact that it's
expensive he said I think in the near
term it's going to be reserved for
Missions that are very particular very
high-end very Exquisite but before
becoming the Ultimate key for the US
military SpaceX needs to fly extensively
and regularly with plans to launch nine
times in 2024 alone SpaceX will be quite
busy not only preparing rocket Hardware
but also needing multiple launch Towers
from its existing launch sites at KSC
Texas in California besides SpaceX could
spread its footprint to new launch sites
down the line as well and that could
feed into point-to-point plans the
military is interested in Henry said I
think the answer is we're going to need
both as a company but also as a nation
to fully leverage Starship he said we're
going to need a proliferation of launch
sites within the continental US and
maybe even globally to fully capture
this that's all for today's episode
thanks so much for watching and see you
next
time
