
NASA seeks to break the “tyranny of launch” with in-space manufacturing - leirbagarc
https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/07/nasas-technology-program-funds-ambitious-in-space-manufacturing-mission/
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rbanffy
I fail to see the point if the mass has to be launched from Earth.

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avmich
If your payload is tailored to be launched on one specific launcher - by mass,
size, vibration characteristics, orbital inclinations available from the
launch pad, etc. - that launch provider finds itself in a monopolistic
position.

Often that's not a problem - space exploration started in close cooperation
with military which don't have much choice anyway. However more and more the
payloads are commercial, or non-profit, and customers could use some
competition between launch providers - and, correspondingly, many launch
providers would be glad to offer their services to traditional customers of
their competitors.

Even more options are available to launch customers if they can split their
payload into several smaller parts and use several smaller launchers instead
of a single bigger one. Space payloads roughly falls into classes "humans",
"expensive hardware" and "bulk materials (most often fuel)". There could be
various options dividing a payload for a single mission into several launches.
Manufacturing parts in space from material delivered from Earth is a variation
of such an approach; assembling spacecraft on ISS by astronauts could be
another. In all cases, there could be significant flexibility regarding the
launchers used.

