r/spacex • u/firefly-metaverse • 8d ago

Falcon 9 surpassed Kosmos 3M and it is now the 2nd most launched orbital rocket in history.

https://spacestatsonline.com/rockets/most-launched-rockets
264 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

48 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

3

u/paul_wi11iams 7d ago edited 7d ago

Even without ITAR,

The aims of ITAR are

  • protecting the interests of U.S. national security
  • serving the objectives of U.S. foreign policy.

Doesn't the US sell other sensitive (but ageing) technology to Europe including military planes with tech that's two decades old, as is Falcon 9.

Different countries have different relations with the US and I'm pretty sure that the European Union is not considered the same as Russia or the PRC.

The US may have an interest in keeping the European space industry alive, if only to keep it at a safe distance from the influence of adversaries.

I think the chances of that happening would be zero.

Not everybody in Europe would find Falcon 9 family welcome, since it would undercut Ariane among others. But it would be a lesser evil as compared to seeing the US taking over the European market,