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He has done his math. The questions seem to be: How to put together viable payloads to make use of Stsrship launches? How to build new markets in space?

This again?! Game Over? Busted? We’re doing Starship again so soon because I’m an unoriginal hack. There’s also been new developments in Starship and I think it’s a perfect time to revisit the launch system. Get as mad as you wish.

Will Starship live up to expectations? Will it really revolutionize space travel? Is Mars and beyond finally within grasp? Why are Musk’s fans so strangely devoted to him? Will I stop asking dumb questions?

Corrections, Clarifications, and Notes.

1. Jesus Christ I forgot about Dear Moon again. It’s clear that Starship probably won’t be human-rated by NASA by 2023. The FAA, if I remember correctly, doesn’t regulate commercial crew vehicles (like airplanes) yet. You could always do a Crew Dragon to Starship for that or something along those lines. I’d anticipate Dear Moon being pushed or somehow incorporated into an HLS demonstration.

2. I’m not bringing up the early test program this time around. SpaceX has clearly gotten better at building tanks (though I suspect Starhopper was mostly a publicity stunt).

3. I didn’t include government launch contracts because those end up more expensive than commercial payloads due to more stringent requirements and specialized missions.

4. I didn’t talk about SpaceX finances since they’re private information. The Morgan Stanley valuation was made by people who I’d argue don’t know anything about the launch market. Their assessment is nonsensical. Also, I doubt SpaceX is making much money as a commercial launch provider—the launch side of the space industry is small; if it weren’t for Starship and Starlink, they might. It also appears that SpaceX is adept at burning cash, considering all the fundraising they do. It’s hard to say without industrial espionage.

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Intel backpedals…

Intel has apologized in China following a backlash over a directive to suppliers not to source products or labor from the Xinjiang region.

The US chipmaker told suppliers in a letter dated December 2021 that it “is required to ensure our supply chain does not use any labor or source goods or services from the Xinjiang region” of China, citing government restrictions and questions from investors and customers.

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Tsinghua Unigroup Co, one of China’s biggest semiconductor giants and a key server supplier to the Chinese government entities is burdened with debt default.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) yet again finds itself in the middle of a battle with the private sector and tech entrepreneurs. This time over the all-important semiconductors. Tsinghua Unigroup Co., one of China’s biggest semiconductor giants and a key server supplier to the Chinese government entities, is burdened with debt defaults and undergoing rescue process.

Without naming the CCP, Zhao is promising to stand up to Communist Party leadership. In Xi’s enterprise-hating China, a private entity doesn’t simply rise out of nowhere and take over a leading semiconductor giant. And if any entity can dare to do that, it must be having the informal backing of the Communist Party.

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Japan and U.S have agreed to Tokyo’s contribution for hosting U.S. military forces to 9.2 Billion dollars over the five-year period from fiscal 2022, which starts in April, government sources said.

Roughly 5% increase in so-called host nation support came in response to calls from the administration of U.S president Joe Biden for the Japanese government to foot more of the cost, given the need for U.S. forces to deal with China.

The two sides have agreed to reduce Tokyo’s financial contribution for utility costs, with the increased amount to be allocated to funding expenses such as maintenance of facilities used by both Japan’s self-Defence Forces and the U.S. military as well as their joint exercise.

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Taiwan’s spycatchers are battling a sustained Chinese espionage campaign. Even the security detail of President Tsai Ing-wen has been compromised.

The operation detailed in these documents shows how Beijing allegedly sought out commanders in the Taiwan military and induced them to become spies. It comes amid a series of convictions for military espionage in Taiwan in recent years. Those cases reveal that China has mounted a broader campaign to undermine the democratic island’s military and civilian leadership, corrode its will to fight, extract details of high-tech weapons and gain insights into defense planning, according to senior retired Taiwanese military officers and current counter-espionage agents, as well as former U.S. military and intelligence officers with experience in Taiwan.

Taiwan’s spycatchers are battling a campaign that has compromised senior officers at the heart of the island’s armed forces and government agencies, a steady stream of convictions handed down in the courts shows.

Beijing has even penetrated the security detail assigned to protect Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen. A retired presidential security officer and a serving military police lieutenant colonel at the unit tasked with protecting the president had their conviction upheld earlier this year for leaking sensitive information about Tsai’s security to a Chinese intelligence agency.

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ISTANBUL/ADDIS ABABA, Dec 22 (Reuters) — U.S. authorities have taken issue with Turkey over its sales of armed drones to Ethiopia, where two sources familiar with the matter said there was mounting evidence the government had used the weapons against rebel fighters.

Washington has “profound humanitarian concerns” over the sales, which could contravene U.S. restrictions on arms to Addis Ababa, a senior Western official said.

The year-long war between Ethiopia’s government and the leadership of the northern Tigray region, among Africa’s bloodiest conflicts, has killed thousands of civilians and displaced millions.

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(Bloomberg) — Amazon.com Inc.’s efforts to curry favor with the Chinese government included quieting criticism of President Xi Jinping’s book on its Chinese outlet, according to a Reuters report. Most Read from BloombergModerna’s Third Dose Boosts Antibodies Against OmicronS&P 500 Has Biggest Three-Day Drop Since September: Markets WrapBilly Joel NYC Show Going Ahead; Quebec Closures: Virus UpdateOmicron Becomes Dominant U.S. Strain With 73% of Covid CasesManchin Outlines Tax, Policy Changes He’

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KUALA LUMPUR: More than 21,000 people affected by Malaysia’s worst flooding in years — most of them in Selangor — were sheltering in relief centres on Sunday (Dec 19).

Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced the government would allocate an initial sum of RM100 million for house and infrastructure repairs, and will provide financial aid to affected households.

In a Facebook post, the prime minister said he had “directed all ministries to double up efforts in helping flood operations especially in the severely affected areas as soon as possible”.

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In aviation, any advancement in design must either reduce weight or the benefit has to be worth the extra weight. Researchers at the University of Bath seem to have achieved the perfect balance between the two by developing a way to reduce aircraft engine noise by up to 80% while adding almost no extra weight.

As Green Car Congress reports, the research team at the University of Bath developed a graphene oxide-polyvinyl alcohol aerogel, which only weighs 2.1kg (4.6lbs) per cubic meter and therefore makes it the lightest sound insulation ever manufactured.

Researchers developed a graphene aerogel that reduces engine noise to the same level as a hair dryer.

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The U.S. Air Force has failed for a third time to conduct a successful test of the rocket booster on a prototype AGM-183A Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon hypersonic missile, or ARRW. This can only add to the palatable frustration within the service, as well as elsewhere in the U.S. military and in Congress, about the progress, or lack thereof, in the testing of various new hypersonic weapons.

The Air Force Life Cycle Management Command’s Armament Directorate confirmed to The War Zone today that another attempted ARRW flight test had failed on Dec. 15, 2021. The Air Force says that it has not yet determined the cause of the issue that led to the test being aborted. The prototype missile never left the wing of the B-52H bomber carrying it.

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