Alibaba signs to explore one-hour rocket deliveries
- Reference: 1712123166
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2024/04/03/taobao_alibaba_rocket_delivery/
- Source link:
You read that correctly. Beijing-based startup Space Epoch used its WeChat account to [1]reveal the plan on Sunday, detailing the 120m 3 cargo cabin mounted atop its Yuanxingzhe 1 rocket. Taobao has [2]reportedly confirmed the alliance is real – despite Space Epoch's post coming just a few hours before April 1.
The Yuanxingzhe 1 is yet to fly, but its liquid-fuelled engine has been tested and Space Epoch has simulated recovery of the reusable craft after a water landing. The craft has a diameter of four meters, and cargo carrying capacity of ten metric tons.
[3]
An animation on Space Epoch's WeChat post depicts a parcel being loaded onto a conveyor belt and loaded into a rocket, which takes off, reaches space, and requires around 25 minutes to travel from China's east coast to a location that looks like the city of Urumqi in the northwestern Xinjiang province.
[4]
[5]
The rocket lands in a silo, with its cargo compartment situated at the same level as a conveyor belt. The payload is emptied, then whisked into a van and delivered to a happy customer.
Just how much of that scenario is fanciful is not detailed.
[6]
The Register fancies most of it is. Rockets are loaded very carefully to ensure stability in flight and take days to prepare for launch. The idea that rockets will be available to launch parcels on a whim is lovely – but not currently practical.
Space Epoch claims its rocket can also carry a car-sized payload. That makes a little more sense, as the disposition and weight distribution of vehicles is well known – unlike that of a collection of various parcels and whatnots.
[7]Beijing plans at least three new rockets – maybe reusables too
[8]China's taikonauts return from heavenly palace after 92-day mission
[9]Alibaba bins listing for its Cainiao logistics limb
[10]Apple Vision Pro rentals take China by storm ahead of official release
Prices are also absent from Space Epoch's post. The Register used SpaceX's [11]rideshare cost calculator – which the Musky launch outfit offers to those who wish to launch a small satellite – to guesstimate, and it produced a fee of $4.99 million for its largest single possible payload of 831kg.
That's many multiples of the price of even the most exclusive cars. We shudder to contemplate the price of insurance on top of the launch fee.
Which leaves this looking a lot like a stunt. Especially given that drone delivery – which Amazon [12]announced with great fanfare in 2013 – is yet to become mainstream.
[13]
Drones have, however, become a common way to deliver emergency supplies to remote areas. Perhaps Space Epoch and Taobao could make that happen.
Whatever the two cook up, Beijing will be pleased: the Chinese Communist Party has made fostering a commercial space sector a strategic and industrial priority. ®
Get our [14]Tech Resources
[1] https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/magdkA9YeVBVNon1rPPPSA
[2] https://technode.com/2024/04/02/alibaba-to-test-rocket-package-delivery-service-with-chinas-startup-space-epoch/
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Zg0ouY7XgEH5Szefn-EXYwAAAJE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Zg0ouY7XgEH5Szefn-EXYwAAAJE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Zg0ouY7XgEH5Szefn-EXYwAAAJE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Zg0ouY7XgEH5Szefn-EXYwAAAJE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/07/china_rocket_plans/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/20/shenzhou_12_crew_return/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/27/alibaba_cans_cainiao_ipo/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/27/china_apple_vision_pro_rentals/
[11] https://www.spacex.com/rideshare/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2013/12/02/amazon_prime_air_announcement/
[13] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Zg0ouY7XgEH5Szefn-EXYwAAAJE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[14] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Maybe Chinese calendars
Nah, if you click through to the original Chinese article, it was on time, even a tad early. The delay should be attributed solely to credulous hacks.
Well I couldn't select my location. The only options appeared to be Taipei, Hsinchu, Taichung,Tainan, Kaohshung
Sounds like a scaled-up version of Santa, though he also seems to have a solution for those who don't have a little "silo" connecting the delivery point to the outside world. They may struggle with a patent given the prior art.
A scaled up version of Santa.
Well, let's see. A full grown adult male reindeer weighs around 200kg. Eight of those. Then there's the mass of the sleigh, harnessing, etc for eight of the propulsion engines, the weight of the fat dude pilotong the thing (What about his salary? Working on a holiday and all that. Can't be cheap). Call it 2000kg. That's quite a bit more than the SpaceX max of 831kg. But costs look to be around $294,000 +$6000/kg. So let's say $12,300,000. Plus extras of course. There's always extras, right?
No more than a modest mansion perched on an unstable, fire prone hillside in Beverly Hills or Malibu. Well within the reach of a tech billionaire or other classy individual. Hell, Donald Trump can probably write you a check for that if you just give him a minute or so to find his checkbook. (Pro-tip. Cash that check fast).
Clearly a viable project.
Funny how well
those 19th century ideas are working.
NORAD is going to love this - not
If (big if there) this ever happens, NORAD will go nuts trying to differentiate delivery rockets from ICBMs.
That'll be fun -->
Re: NORAD is going to love this - not
They're all delivery rockets...
Change in benchmark
In the early 90’s we were all transfixed by a Middle Eastern outfit that apparently could deliver by rocket in forty-five minutes.
Caused quite a stir at the time….
Rockets are loaded very carefully to ensure stability in flight and take days to prepare for launch. The idea that rockets will be available to launch parcels on a whim is lovely – but not currently practical.
To be fair, that is not really what I would take issue with. Rockets are just missiles by another name, and I can assure you that there are plenty of missiles ready to launch at a moments notice. If being ready to launch at a moment's notice is your goal, then you choose propellants that will allow that, such as the common stable hypergolic propellant loads (e.g. good old dinitrogen tetroxide and monomethyl hydrazine), or solid rocket motors. Preparing the payload quickly is also perfectly doable, especially in China, where dropping rockets on people's heads is not that big of a deal anyway. Just put your payload adaptor on a rig that lets you see where the centre of mass is, stack up your payload with the centre of mass zeroed out, pallet-wrap it, and cross your fingers. Solvable problems. Seriously though, look at the recent "responsive launch" missions by Firefly Aerospace for the US Space Force - 24hrs to integrate the payload, set up the rocket on the pad, and get the payload to orbit. There's provably no need for it to take days.
Personally, it's the cost that stands out as a probably insurmountable obstacle, rather than anything else. You could do it, but I just can't see the cost coming down to a level that's anywhere near practical. Even if you've got a fully re-usable rocket that can make many flights with minimal refurbishment, you've still got the cost of the launch and landing infrastructure. There's just no way it's not going to cost a fortune.
Kim Jong Un might want some of this too....
A ballistic missile albeit guided (soft) landing in a prepared silo? Only a crypto "investor" is likely to believe that.
Even an object under controlled powered flight might find landing a tube a big ask.
I guess there are no shortage of flag poles in the PRC and no shortage of lackeys to salute the unfurling of the most dubious ensigns.
I would punt for a huge robot (think Gigantor) catching these rockets at their destination a la cricket or baseball.
Maybe Chinese calendars
are a couple of days out ?