Additionally, what are the technical hurdles that must be overcome and what are the primary drivers of cost? This inquiry is prompted by the hype surrounding tomorrow's SpaceX launch to the ISS. Countries have been launching into low-earth orbit, geostationary orbit, and various others since the late 1950s and the modern launch systems are precise and beyond doubt. Why would it be considered such an achievement for a private company to do this? Surely, the ONLY achievement here would be that it's not a nation-state undertaking this task...
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The hurdles for Space-X is the same for the American or Russian governments (or the other 20 governments that launch orbital missions). Building a lightweight, yet strong enough vehicle to withstand the blast of launch, the mach-3 to mach-8 slipstream through the atmosphere, and maintaining a satellite or vehicle through that environment.
What Space-X doesn't have that the American and Russian governments do is nearly unlimited funds. A failure or two is a sizeable chunk of their income - while the payload may be insured through Lloyds of London, the vehicle itself is not. When Apollo 13 failed to land on the moon, Grumman still got paid for building the lunar module, North American still got paid for the Command and service modules, and McDonnell-Douglas still got paid for building the 3rd stage; but if a private company fails in it's endeavor, insurance may cover the cost of the payload - but the cost of the *rocket* is on the company itself. If it fails once, then twice - the people paying them to launch their products into space are probably going to go look for another booster.
And *that's* why it's such an achievement - not for technical reasons, but for commercial ones.
What Space-X doesn't have that the American and Russian governments do is nearly unlimited funds. A failure or two is a sizeable chunk of their income - while the payload may be insured through Lloyds of London, the vehicle itself is not. When Apollo 13 failed to land on the moon, Grumman still got paid for building the lunar module, North American still got paid for the Command and service modules, and McDonnell-Douglas still got paid for building the 3rd stage; but if a private company fails in it's endeavor, insurance may cover the cost of the payload - but the cost of the *rocket* is on the company itself. If it fails once, then twice - the people paying them to launch their products into space are probably going to go look for another booster.
And *that's* why it's such an achievement - not for technical reasons, but for commercial ones.
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The only hurdle is COST. In the past, only a large entity like a nation-state could afford to do it. Technology has advanced enough to lower the cost to put the capability within reach of large companies. Actually, it is relatively EASY to achieve orbit. All you have to do is travel high enough to get out of the atmosphere and go fast enough so your rate of fall from gravity matches the curvature of the earth below you. Acceleration is the key. Acceleration can be virtually unlimited for an unmanned craft limited only by the structural strength of the materials, but must be limited to about 3 gravities for a manned craft otherwise you will kill the crew. By limiting acceleration, it takes much more fuel to achieve the same orbit than it does for the unlimited unmanned mission to do the same.
The idea of an orbit came about from Isaac Newton. He proposed a gun, firing level to the ground. The shell would travel some disance and fall to the ground. Then he thought about more powder. More powder meant the shell would travel further before hitting the ground. Then he thought about just enough, so that the shell would fall, but the curve of the earth would fall as well, and if just right, the curved path of the shell would match the curve of the earth and you would literally shoot yourself in the back. He did not have the materials or technology to build such a gun, but today we DO, or at least we have an equivalent. Like Newton's shell, all we do is boost high enough to get out of the atmosphere and fast enough so the curved path we fall through because of gravity matches the curve of the earth below... So, you see? It really IS easy! And Sir Isaac Newton was the guy who figured it all out... long before anyone could really DO it...
The idea of an orbit came about from Isaac Newton. He proposed a gun, firing level to the ground. The shell would travel some disance and fall to the ground. Then he thought about more powder. More powder meant the shell would travel further before hitting the ground. Then he thought about just enough, so that the shell would fall, but the curve of the earth would fall as well, and if just right, the curved path of the shell would match the curve of the earth and you would literally shoot yourself in the back. He did not have the materials or technology to build such a gun, but today we DO, or at least we have an equivalent. Like Newton's shell, all we do is boost high enough to get out of the atmosphere and fast enough so the curved path we fall through because of gravity matches the curve of the earth below... So, you see? It really IS easy! And Sir Isaac Newton was the guy who figured it all out... long before anyone could really DO it...