Steps Towards Mars Elon Musk has set an aggressive timetable to Mars which would aim to land men there by the end of the decade. How reasonable is it?

Elon Musk has given some details on his Mars plans; I wrote about what it would take last year, and SpaceX have achieved at least one of the objectives so far:

open.substack.com/pub/planetoc...

Rethinking the Kardashev Scale We need better resolution on the problem.

The Kardashev Scale has entered the public consciousness a bit recently.

I’ve got thoughts on this, and an alternative planetocracy.org/p/rethinking...

Rethinking the Kardashev Scale We need better resolution on the problem.

Is it time to ditch the Kardashev scale? planetocracy.org/p/rethinking...

The Kardashev Business Can profit be made from solar energy in space, and used to bootstrap our interplanetary civilisation through capitalism?

Why SpaceX are able to sell energy for $37/kWh

open.substack.com/pub/planetoc...

Mass Value Report for January 2025 A new player joins the space race

open.substack.com/pub/planetoc...

A Penny For Space I am launching a new, ambitious campaign in the UK

I am starting a new campaign planetocracy.org/p/a-penny-fo...

A Home on the High Frontier Jeff Bezos is inspired by a vision that does not involve living on Mars—or on any planet besides Earth—but inhabiting artificial worlds in free space.

Published an article in Quillette about a different approach to colonising space quillette.com/2025/01/20/a...

A Home on the High Frontier Jeff Bezos is inspired by a vision that does not involve living on Mars—or on any planet besides Earth—but inhabiting artificial worlds in free space.

Published an article in Quillette about a different approach to colonising space quillette.com/2025/01/20/a...

Mars in Opposition There are always opponents to the concept of colonising Mars. Recently some of them seem to have coalesced around a few talking points. Let's address them.

Recently I took on some of the less inane opposition to Mars colonisation. Much of it build on misunderstanding:

planetocracy.org/p/mars-in-op...

Mass Value Report for December 2024 Evaluating a years worth of development in space

My December Mass Value Report

I have reviewed my own predictions for 2024, and made some new ones for 2025…

open.substack.com/pub/planetoc...

Space Settlements of the 1970s Half a century ago, NASA was willing to fund a detailed study into what it would take to kick off space settlement. How has it held up since then?

I’ve gone back to a detailed study of space habitats from the 70s

There is a lot of ignorance about the work of Gerard O’Neill - people either haven’t read his work or dismiss it without actually understanding it.

planetocracy.org/p/space-sett...

What Is A Space Agency For? President-elect Trump has made a disruptive choice for NASA administrator. What is the fate of the agency?

I started just writing an opinion piece on Jared Isaacman being nominated for NASA admin, but got into the weeds of the fundamentals of a space agency:

planetocracy.org/p/what-is-a-...

Mass Value Report for November 2024 The Starship program is accelerating - when will it take over from Falcon?

My monthly mass value report - Starship Flight 6, Falcon anomaly recovery, and more… planetocracy.org/p/mass-value...

Going Interstellar It's the tenth anniversary of a modern sci-fi classic, and a chance to talk about the real science of getting to the stars.

Some musings on interstellar flight: planetocracy.org/p/going-inte...

Is this site just about sniping about people on the main site?

If the election result shocked you, maybe it was a mistake to leave Twitter/X?

Catching the Starship: A Breakthrough for Humanity It is now more likely than not that humans will reach Mars, which will transform life on this planet and beyond.

An article I wrote on Starship, and what it means for the future:

quillette.com/2024/10/20/c...

Tale of a Cubesat My first attempt at producing space hardware did not make it to space, but was an amazing educational experience.

A personal story today - my undergrad cubesat project: planetocracy.org/p/tale-of-a-...

Space for Everybody Else There are people out there who don't watch rocket launches for fun. Some of them don't even know what an O'Neill cylinder is. How do we talk to those who don't live and breathe this stuff?

I’ve got a new article out about communicating the ideas of space colonisation.

Most of the public aren’t aware of the idea, or how feasible it has become. Others have been taken in by misinformation in popsci articles and books.

How can we change this?

substack.com/home/post/p-...

Steps Towards Mars Elon Musk has set an aggressive timetable to Mars which would aim to land men there by the end of the decade. How reasonable is it?

Technical analysis of Elon Musks recently announced intention to send 5 Starships to Mars in the next window

planetocracy.org/p/steps-towa...

Escape From Planet Wagie Human migration into space is a form of escape; will it be competitive with others more established methods?

planetocracy.org/p/escape-fro...

Review of "Reentry" Eric Berger builds on his previous book Liftoff to tell the story of the Falcon 9, the rocket which changed spaceflight forever.

My review of “Reentry”

People should try to step back from their feelings about Elon Musk and understand what a remarkable company he has created.

substack.com/home/post/p-...

Review of 'Red Moon Rising' A new book by Greg Autry and Peter Navarro paints a stark picture of the challenged posed by Chinese space ambitions.

My review of “Red Moon Rising”

Don’t agree with all of its points, but I’ve come round to the reality of a US-China space race - and the stakes are high

planetocracy.org/p/review-of-...

When Britain Surrendered The Stars Once the UK was a serious player in space. Why did we give it up, and are we going to make the same mistake again?

Most don’t know how close the UK was to being a real space power

planetocracy.org/p/when-brita...

Mass Value Report for March 2024 Tracking how likely or not it is for SpaceX to reach their ambitious launch target this year, and whether the debut of operational Starship flights will maintain the pace.

Elon Musks ambitions for Mars require a fast growth in the amount of mass sent to space; Falcon 9 is leading this growth but to continue it requires a relatively quick ramp of Starship. I go into the numbers here:

planetocracy.substack.com/p/mass-value...

I’m also available on the elephant site:

mastodon.social/@peterhague

Mass Value Report for March 2024 Tracking how likely or not it is for SpaceX to reach their ambitious launch target this year, and whether the debut of operational Starship flights will maintain the pace.

Elon Musks ambitions for Mars require a fast growth in the amount of mass sent to space; Falcon 9 is leading this growth but to continue it requires a relatively quick ramp of Starship. I go into the numbers here:

planetocracy.substack.com/p/mass-value...

Is this place alive at all? Wondering if it’s worthwhile me posting content here.

My latest newsletter - on how striking imagery, when it truthfully represents change, can shift people’s perceptions open.substack.com/pub/planetoc...

Still looking for signatures (from UK people) for this petition. Let’s catch up in space petition.parliament.uk/petitions/65...