Is the Space Force about to acquire SpaceX Starships?
https://thehill.com/opinion/technology/557026-is-the-space-force-about-to-acquire-spacex-starships  Eric Berger over at Ars Technica has noticed something in the Department of the Air Force section of President BidenJoe BidenTrump touts record, blasts Dems in return to stage Trump demands China pay reparations for role in coronavirus pandemic Lincoln Project co-founder: Trumps words will surely kill again MOREs fiscal 2022 budget proposal. The Air Force is proposing to spend money to study how the Starship rocket being developed by SpaceX could be used to deliver 100 tons of cargo anywhere in the world within one hour. The Starship as point-to-point cargo hauler may be just the first task that the SpaceX rocket ship may be asked to perform. Certainly, the military would appreciate having the ability to send supplies to any place in the world within an hour. The practical problems of making the Starship work as a cargo hauler would be formidable. A single insurgent with a ground-to-air missile might turn a landing into a fireball. The Motley Fool, a private investment advice company, is quite bullish on the military potential of the Starship. The company envisions the SpaceX rocket ship performing a variety of military missions from low Earth orbit to the vicinity of the moon. Starship could be used as a mobile, versatile reconnaissance platform, using its store of fuel and six vacuum-optimized Raptor engines to maneuver where it needs to go. ADVERTISEMENT  The SpaceX Starship could perform a number of other military missions, such as striking at the space assets of enemy nations in time of war and defending American satellites and other space-based installations. The rocket ship could refuel American satellites, extending their operational lifespans. It could even be used to help clean up space debris. The Space Force would thus grow from a handful of personnel manning consoles and conducting planning meetings to a true war fighting branch of the military. The Starship, currently under development at the SpaceX testing facility in Boca Chica, Texas, is the instrument of company CEO Elon Musk Elon Reeve MuskSpaceX launches sea creatures, solar panels to space station Tesla recalling thousands of cars in US, China SEC faults Tesla for oversight of Musk tweets: report MOREs dream to build a settlement on Mars. Musk envisions the rocket ship taking settlers and the supplies they need to survive to the Red Planet, making a new branch of human civilization. NASA is already so impressed by the Starship that it has contracted SpaceX to build a lunar-landing version of it to return astronauts to the moon as early as 2024. The selection has enraged Musks rivals such as Blue Origins Jeff Bezos Jeffrey (Jeff) Preston BezosBlack women look to build upon gains in coming elections Amazon, Red Cross partnering on faster deliveries of disaster relief supplies Amazon injury rate well above warehouse standard: report MORE and has perturbed some members of Congress. Both have only themselves to blame  Blue Origin for offering an inferior design, and Congress for underfunding the Human Landing System (HLS) project. Military technology development has often been defined by the advent of new ways to transport people and cargo. The racing galleon of the 16th century became the frigates and ships of the line that defined naval warfare in the 18th and early 19th centuries. The steam engine and iron and steel armor led to the dreadnaughts of the early 20th century. Modern warships incorporate nuclear power. Air travel has caused the same sort of evolution, from the motorized kites of World War I to modern jets that can deliver destruction and death from thousands of miles away. Now, space transportation technology is poised to cause a similar revolution in the militarys ability to defend the United States and its allies and to inflict mayhem and death on any enemy that would propose to make war on America. The great irony is that the Starship will be used by a branch of the military that Musk once compared to Star Fleet, the fictional service depicted in the Star Trek television shows and movies. The thought would likely bring a smile to the franchises creator, Gene Roddenberry, in whatever afterlife one envisions him inhabiting. ADVERTISEMENT  No doubt entire libraries will be written about how life has started to imitate art in this way. As a practical matter, the United States, by being the first to develop a true war fighting capability beyond the Earths atmosphere, will have ensured its survival as a free society and the dominant superpower. Friends of America should take comfort in this fact. American power has, by and large, been a force for good. Americas enemies, though, should take caution. Their ability to make trouble is about to be further circumscribed. No other country has the capabilities that the SpaceX Starship will provide nor are likely to for quite some time to come. as well as The Moon, Mars and Beyond, and, most recently, Why is America going back to the Moon. He blogs at Curmudgeons Corner. He is published in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, The Hill, USA Today, the LA Times and the Washington Post, among other venues. Share this: Twitter  Facebook