We don’t have enough rockets! As detailed by Ars Technica, the world faces a significant shortage of rockets over the next five years. Between now and 2030, there will be a shortfall of about 150 launches compared to demand from satellite operators and civil space agencies.
Demand for rockets outstripping supply may be the most sci-fi problem we've ever had. I realize it's a genuine problem that needs solving, but I love it! This is the future I signed up for. I'd say someone needs to write a sci-fi story about a scrappy, upstart group of engineers who launch an impossible project to build powerful, cheap rockets at scale...but by the time the story gets written, it likely will have already happened.
SpaceX showed the way. Writing near-future sci-fi has become an impossible task. And frankly, I love that, too.
Image credit: SpaceX
