Rocket have already proven their worth. And space has already become very profitable for SpaceX with their massive Starlink constellation. So much so that Blue Origin, Chinese companies and others are trying to get in the game. Maybe StarFall will end up being a dud, but it does have two potential business applications so that’s twice the chance of success.

And again, think about how a fleet of thousands of Starship rockets will change the paradigm of space access in a matter of a few years. There will likely be more bumps in the road ahead, but one way or another, space based manufacturing will eventually become a reality.

And so will space troopers dropping from orbit to attack the bad guys!

Sure, it was technically possible to build a futuristic, superfast
passenger plane to cross the Atlantic in half the time of a conventional jet. But the SST lost money. They were expensive to make, maintain and operate. Sure, there were a handful of rich celebrities that were willing to pay premium prices to cut a few hours off their transatlantic commute time, but airlines are businesses, and they just couldn’t find the customers to support this new service. They could not charge passengers what it really cost to pay for the trip, and they lost money on every seat. Maybe Mick Jagger could afford it but not your basic tourist or business traveler.

There were other problems, too. There were sonic booms and high fuel consumption, and eventually safety concerns, but what killed the SST is that it just couldn’t make any money. Let’s face it, no one really NEEDED to get across the pond in 2 hours. And without the lucrative transatlantic trade to show the way, other potential markets failed to develop.

The SST lost money, but the frogs and the limeys had bet their reputations on it and they continued pouring francs and pounds into the program. After one terrible accident (which was probably not the plane’s fault), the operators finally had the excuse they needed to shut the program down.

The Soviets built their own SST too. It never flew commercially either.

Flew in from Miami Beach, B-O-A-C
Didn’t get to bed last night
On the way, the paper bag was on my knee
Man, I had a dreadful flight

https://media.cntraveler.com/photos/60b1244513475a76aa942999/16:9/w_2560%2Cc_limit/Concorde_GettyImages-2496633.jpg

Here’s a bit more optimistic viewpoint than yours. Please read it:

Space-based manufacturing and point-to-point delivery anywhere on Earth in 90 minutes are industries that will be worth tens of billions within the next five years.

I just fear that overly optimistic plans, through their failures to deliver, will only jeopardize more complex and ambitious (but highly worthwhile) missions in the future. Yes, I realize its a judgement call and it is difficult to plan for an unknown. I also understand we sometimes have to develop capabilities before they are needed so they will be online whenever they are needed.

But that’s the way I see it.

As for the secondary, yes, you may be able to get from orbit to ground in an hour, but you have to add to that the time it takes to first assemble, package, and get your cargo to orbit, then the time required to prep your spacecraft for the delivery, plus the wait for all the orbits to line up, plus the time required for weather delays, countdown interruptions, securing overflight permissions, safety concerns, landing site prep, and all the other administrative and technical overhead that goes into launching and recovering a spacecraft. And then, there are places on earth (like near the poles) where it is hard to get to from LEO, it would be necessary to have multiple orbiting platforms ready to get full planetary coverage.

Forget it Buck. There is absolutely no good reason to go to space except to do the science that can only be done there. And that can mostly be done by robots a lot cheaper. Yes, manned exploration and colonization is the ultimate goal, and I have no doubt we will someday find very good reasons to do that, but not now.

Yes, I read all the science fiction yarns about orbital earth resource monitoring labs, zero-g factories, observatories, medical facilities, military recon and early warning outposts, com relays and the only ones that have have actually materialized are being done by robots like Landsat, Hubble and GPS. The rest is all space groupie fantasies desperately clung to by overgrown adolescents who are waiting for an invite.

Remember, just because something can be done, doesn’t mean it must be done. And it certainly doesn’t mean it should be done.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KFTm9vmZDI

Things that can only be manufactured in zero gravity:

Perfect Protein Crystals: On Earth, gravity causes heavier molecules and impurities to sink during crystal growth, creating defects. In zero-G, flawless, larger crystals can grow, which is crucial for structure-based pharmaceutical design.

ZBLAN Optical Fiber: ZBLAN is a heavy-metal fluoride glass. When manufactured in space, it forms without the tiny flaws and crystallization that ruin signal loss, yielding internet and laser fibers vastly superior to Earth-made alternatives.

Uniform Metal Alloys: On Earth, mixing metals with different densities causes separation and sedimentation. In zero gravity, incompatible elements (like magnesium and calcium or titanium and lead) can be uniformly blended.

Pharmaceuticals and Antivirals: Companies like Varda Space Industries have automated orbital manufacturing to process small-molecule therapeutic drugs (such as ritonavir, used in HIV treatments and Covid vaccines) that form unique, highly effective crystalline structures free from gravity’s interference.

Stem Cells and Bio-inks: 3D bioprinting complex human tissues (like synthetic blood vessels or artificial retinas) is nearly impossible on Earth because the structures collapse under their own weight. Microgravity allows for precise, scaffold-free cellular arrangement.

Since getting payloads into orbit is highly expensive, space manufacturing currently focuses on extremely high-value, lightweight products.

SECONDARY PURPOSE:

Time it takes to get from Texas to India (the opposite side of the planet):

Commercial Flights: Average ~ 26 hours.
Military Aircraft: Average ~ 20 hours.
Sub-orbital SpaceX Starship: Average ~ 1 hour.

Obviously there is loading and unloading time involved in all these methods. There’s also the “last-mile” logistics issue in all emergency supplies. Currently, cargo drones have gone a long way in helping mitigate that. But keep in mind the precision that Falcon and other rockets are currently landing with. If StarFall is anywhere near that it could practically eliminate last mile logistics. Getting important supplies across the planet in an hour is a game changer not only for emergencies like natural disasters, but it certainly would have military resupply applications.

TERTIARY PURPOSE:

Yeah, maybe someday.

Secondary Purpose:
Critical, high-value payloads, such as vaccines, critical spare parts, or organs for human transplant can now be delivered anywhere on earth in a matter of hours using conventional aircraft and commercial delivery systems. The amount of time required to plan and execute any cargo mission involving suborbital trajectories (with the possible exception of a nuclear warhead) is bound to be much longer.

Tertiary purpose: Yeah. Maybe someday.

The only ‘thing’ of value which might need to be delivered super-quickly from one point on the earth to another is information, and that can go over the telephone.