Space-X is stealing from the Soviets

Elon Musk's proof-of-concept for private sector space flight is standing on the shoulders of communists.

Another massive explosion has sent another Elon Musk vehicle to hell. Today, Space-X’s Starship joined its Falcon 9 rocket, its Crew Dragon spacecraft and an endless caravan of Teslas in Musk’s ever-growing assembly of transportation projects that unexpectedly blew up. Massive plumes of fire and debris marked the rocket’s final moment less than four minutes into the flight and only 18 miles above ground. To put that in perspective, low-earth orbit is about 100 miles up.

Space-X has conceded that the multi-billion dollar project’s colossal failure was “unscheduled” but is nevertheless putting a positive spin on the affair:

With a test like this, success comes from what we learn, and today’s test will help us improve Starship’s reliability as SpaceX seeks to make life multi-planetary…

Understandably, a lot of folks are having a good laugh over what reads a whole lot like a flimsy excuse. But here’s something even funnier: what if it’s real? What if, instead of adhering to NASA’s famously meticulous pre-launch design-and-refine approach to engineering, Space-X really is just shooting rockets into the air and fixing problems as they encounter them? If this is true, then Musk owes a serious debt of gratitude to the people who pioneered this approach: the communists of the Soviet Union.