ONLY BECAUSE ITS COMPETITORS AREN’T VERY GOOD: SpaceX Now Has A De Facto Monopoly on Rocket Launches.

Satellite operators and government agencies doing business in space are increasingly dependent on one company to help them reach orbit: Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

SpaceX has cornered much of the rocket-launch market, with a proven fleet of reusable rockets that can fly at a pace that rivals can’t match—and at lower prices. The company’s rockets powered 66% of customer flights from American launch sites in 2022, and handled 88% in the first six months of this year, according to launch data compiled by Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist who tracks space activity.

That dominance is set to continue. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine put one alternative, the Russian Soyuz rocket, off limits for many launch buyers. Rival vehicles from Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and the French launch company Arianespace haven’t flown yet.

And competitors are phasing out existing rockets as they transition to new ones. United Launch Alliance in June blasted off a government satellite on a Delta IV Heavy rocket, the second-to-last time it will use that vehicle. July 5 marked the final launch of Arianespace’s Ariane 5 rocket.

“The fact is that the competition can’t field anything right now and that makes SpaceX a de facto monopoly,” said John Holst, a former Air Force space operations officer who now writes a newsletter about the space industry.

SpaceX’s grip on the launch business means many government agencies and satellite operators must tether their ambitions to the company’s timetables and capabilities. Most launches ferry different kinds of satellites to orbit, where they do everything from provide internet service in remote areas to track weather and capture images of Earth. Some satellite-internet companies pay SpaceX to launch devices that help them compete with SpaceX’s own satellite-broadband service, Starlink.

SpaceX is also the only one ferrying NASA astronauts to and from the International Space Station. Several years ago, SpaceX began handling U.S. national-security spaceflights, ending the virtual monopoly that United Launch Alliance previously held on them. SpaceX and ULA now both conduct those launches.

By making SpaceX indispensible to the most powerful part of the Establishment, the military-industrial complex, Elon Musk has obtained a substantial degree of protection from his political enemies. He is a smart man.

Plus: “SpaceX’s dominance means a steady stream of revenue to support the Hawthorne, Calif.-based company’s ongoing programs, such as Starship, the massive new rocket SpaceX has been developing.”

FOR SURE INADVERTENTLY:  A Welcome Gaffe: White House Lets Some Climate Truth Slip Out”.

IN EVERY COUNTRY, I’D GUESS. MARXISTS WON’T LET GO, AND THEIR SYSTEM IS UNWORKABLE. ANY COUNTRY WHO IS VERY LUCKY WILL AVOID A CIVIL WAR:  Is Civil War on the Horizon in France?

TYRANNY THRIVES IN SECRECY:  Biden Administration Is ‘Irreparably Harmed’ by Free Speech Injunction.

If you’re irreparably harmed by free speech, you ain’t a legitimate American admnistration.

OH DEAR:  Pete Buttigieg ‘takes over’ White House social media feed — what could go wrong?

OR, LET’S BE REAL, OVER NOT WANTING TO STARVE:  19 State Attorneys General Sue Biden Admin over Electric Trucking Rules.

WOULD YOU LIKE RANCH WITH THAT WORD SALAD?  ‘Might be Kamala Harris’ Best Yet’: VP’s Latest Word Salad is All About Culture.

UH UH, IF THIS WERE A REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT, THERE WOULD BE NOTHING ELSE ON TV FOR THE NEXT THREE YEARS:  White House Allies Call Cocaine Story ‘Political Fodder,’ House Republicans Open Investigation.

WELL, SURE SOUNDS LIKE A WINNING IDEA:  Meta Launches “Threads”: App Won’t Let You Delete Account Unless You Also Delete Instagram.

WELL, YES. YOU SEE, THE ELECTIONS AREN’T DECIDED BY PUNDIT OPINIONS:  Trump Raises $35 Million in Second Quarter, Reinforcing Frontrunner Status.

Of course, they’re also not decided by voting here and now, but hey, we can make them fraud 400 million votes for the FICUS (Fraud In Chief of the US) and then even the blind will see.

FIDDLING, WHILE ROME BURNS:  Biden Celebrates Bidenonomics as Economy Slows.

ABOUT AS USEFUL AS A CHOCOLATE HAMMER:  Biden Admin To Form Global Coalition Against Fentanyl That Doesn’t Include China.

JOHN TIERNEY: Lockdowns: the Self-Inflicted Disaster: Governments’ use of the pandemic to claim sweeping new emergency powers has had destructive effects. “Long before Covid struck, economists detected a deadly pattern in the impact of natural disasters: if the executive branch of government used the emergency to claim sweeping new powers over the citizenry, more people died than would have if government powers had remained constrained. It’s now clear that the Covid pandemic is the deadliest confirmation yet of that pattern.” (Bumped).

OPEN THREAD: Ring in the weekend.

THE NEW SPACE RACE: Europe leans on SpaceX to bridge launcher gap. “Europe, temporarily lacking its own access to space, plans to rely more on SpaceX to launch key science and navigation spacecraft while working to restore its launch capabilities. The successful final Ariane 5 launch July 5 means that Europe temporarily has no ability to launch payloads into orbit. The Ariane 5’s successor, Ariane 6, is still in development and appears increasingly unlikely to be ready for its inaugural launch before 2024. The Soyuz is no longer available in Europe after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The Vega C remains grounded after a December 2022 launch failure, and its return to flight, previously planned for late this year, is facing delays after an anomaly during a static-fire test June 28 of that rocket’s Zefiro 40 motor.”

THIS SAD ADMINISTRATION:

Still in awe of the media’s effort to paint Joe Biden as compassionate and loving for helping his tax cheat, gun crime-committing crackhead son deny the existence of his child and get away with felonies.

— Sunny (@sunnyright) July 7, 2023

The people who installed Biden knew what he and his family were like. They just didn’t care. Plus:

Fact check: @presssec said there was 'irresponsible' reporting on WH cocaine because Biden family 'were not here Friday'

Hunter was at WH Friday according to @EugeneDaniels2 pool report https://t.co/2GoWiy6ao9 pic.twitter.com/tva9IOtwAO

— Steven Nelson (@stevennelson10) July 7, 2023

https://t.co/PjHcMwLe7Q pic.twitter.com/huegQetLQb

— Sunny (@sunnyright) July 7, 2023

LOL, Ana Navarro.

I mean it’s hilariously absurd. https://t.co/wtluCm08zR

— Sunny (@sunnyright) July 7, 2023

UPDATE: From tonight’s open thread:

GO TO THE COURTHOUSE AND FILE A LIEN, JUST FOR YUKS: Ben & Jerry’s HQ is on ‘stolen’ Native American land, Vermont chief says. “Ben & Jerry’s has called on the US to give back “stolen Indigenous land” including Mount Rushmore — and now a Native American chief in Vermont said he’d like to talk about the land that’s under the ice cream maker’s headquarters.” After all, they’ve basically admitted the land isn’t theirs.

TEACH WOMEN NOT TO, UH, WHATEVER THIS IS: Dialysis patient dies during sex in car with his nurse — who failed to call for an ambulance.

BIRTH DEARTH KINDA REVERSED: The fall of Roe=more live births.

I mean, I don’t think this will undo the global baby bust, but it’s interesting, even if some researchers call it disappointing.

HISTORY: The Revolt of the Generals (July 1943).

GOOD ADVICE: How to Stay Safe When You’re Out on the Trail — Carry A Gun.

FLORIDA MAN FRIDAY [VIP]: Fly the Psychotic Skies. “This week, we have the curious case of the airline passenger who wasn’t there even though he was, a genuine hero from Fort Lauderdale, and Colorado Man’s mysterious passion for stolen panties.”

THE WEAPONIZATION OF LONELINESS: Gen Z is the loneliest generation ever and digital technology has the potential to abolish the private realm entirely. Combine these two realities and you will understand why Stella Morabito wrote “The Weaponization of Loneliness” and why individual political liberty faces its greatest potential peril ever in the coming decades.

READER FAVORITE: MyPillow Premium Bed Pillow Queen. #CommissionEarned

4TH CIRCUIT ALLOWS NC STATE TO PUNISH ANTI-WOKE PROFESSOR ON ‘COLLEGIALITY’ GROUNDS. At least in higher ed, “collegiality” requirements are 100% a scam. Both those I helped at FIRE and my current clients (and the professor here is a client of my firm) regularly tolerate nauseating levels of “uncollegiality” aimed at them. If they complain, their complaints are deemed uncollegial. Courts need to stop falling for this stuff.