Not relying on licenced IP? 96% in-house? That's my guess but I'm just a dude on HN.
Also, this is kinda like SpaceX getting a Falcon 9 to orbit the first time but in fusion land.
Not relying on licenced IP? 96% in-house? That's my guess but I'm just a dude on HN.
Also, this is kinda like SpaceX getting a Falcon 9 to orbit the first time but in fusion land.
It’s a bit difficult to parse the analogy since you’re comparing something that has never been done (and is a notoriously difficult technology to crack) to something that had been done by many others, many times. But, even so, and despite the lack of specific information about the test/achievement, I have a feeling you’re over selling this by quite a bit. If you want to compare to spacex, I’d say it’s more like the first time they demonstrated that they could control a re-entering booster stage with grid fins—a notable step to booster reuse.
The analogy is apt. Many, many, many fusion reactors have achieved first plasma. This is comparable to a rocket achieving orbit.
This company's ultimate goal is commercial fusion power, which has never been done. SpaceX's goal is landing people on Mars, which has never been done. The milestones being discussed are just stepping stones.
> SpaceX's goal is landing people on Mars, which has never been done
Cheap, frequent flights on reüsable rockets would seem to be space’s commercial fusion power threshold. Colonising Mars is like fusion SMRs at a fraction of solar’s cost.
Yeah that makes sense when you explain it like that.