Rocket Science
As I have already pointed out, general audience, analysts, strategists & decision makers included holds unrealistic notions of how the global economy is organised. Now that is because they never see the back end of industrial civilisation
So let me show you some
As I have already pointed out, general audience, analysts, strategists & decision makers included holds unrealistic notions of how the global economy is organised. Now that is because they never see the back end of industrial civilisation
So let me show you some
There is a major delusion of seeing Europe as a sort of retired continent that "lags in tech" or even "doesn't produce anything". To some extent, it is just American hubris.
But there is more in there than just hubris. There is also some honest, sincere ignorance. The thing with most people is that they see only facade of industrial civilisation. They never ever had a chance to look behind the curtains
Whatever there is behind, is a total mystery
Whatever there is behind, is a total mystery
Now we come to the neat part. "Most people" includes almost the entire governing class of the West. Recruited from the service economy, it was never introduced to the back end. It has never been behind the curtains.
The governing class has no idea.
The governing class has no idea.
Seeing facade only means seeing only the final product. In this case the Angara rocket launch. We see it, we register it, we base our conclusions upon it. What we don't see, however, is the back end infrastructure supporting it all, hardware & software included.
Roscosmos is the Russian corporation responsible both for civilian space launches and for the ICBM production. In theory, civilian and military sectors are separated.
In reality, there is a certain overlap. Space rocket is not that different from an intercontinental missile.
In reality, there is a certain overlap. Space rocket is not that different from an intercontinental missile.
The structure of Roscomos is typical for a Russian megacorporation. On the very lowest level, there are production facilities, manufacturing plants. They belong to the R&D facilities, Design Bureaus. So, these Design Bureaus form the vertically integrated companies of their own
One of these vertically integrated companies within the Roscosmos structure is Khrunichev Space Center. A smaller doll within Roscosmos, it has even smaller dolls (= manufacturing plants) inside. Again, visualising it all as a sort of of matryoshka can be very helpful.
Now let's go even further down the Roscosmos, structure. The manufacturing plant Polet. You can frame this production facility as the smallest doll within the gargantuan matryoshka. Producing the Angara space rockets, it also makes parts for other rockets & aircrafts.
Let's have a look at the Polet's 80th anniversary video. Published in 2021, it is very much available on youtube. Short as it is, it gives some glimpse into the back end infrastructure standing behind the space rocket production.
See a relevant fragment:
See a relevant fragment:
So, let's zoom in into some hardware & software we can register in this 3 minutes long video above.
Siemens š©šŖ CNC controller on what is very possibly a Dufleux š«š· milling machine.
(I believe MMS on the screen may refer to the Milling Mirror System)
(I believe MMS on the screen may refer to the Milling Mirror System)
FPT Industrie š®š¹
FPT Industrie š®š¹
(You may not see it very well, but this is a very large Dinomax machine fptindustrie.com)
(You may not see it very well, but this is a very large Dinomax machine fptindustrie.com)
LK Metrology š¬š§
We think of the UK as of a deindustrialised country. And there is certainly lots of truth in that. Still, it has some sophisticated, high end machinery production, for example of measuring equipment. We just don't see it, because it's all in the back end.
We think of the UK as of a deindustrialised country. And there is certainly lots of truth in that. Still, it has some sophisticated, high end machinery production, for example of measuring equipment. We just don't see it, because it's all in the back end.
DMG Mori AG š©šŖ This seems to be an entire workshop equipped with DMG machines.
So what do wee see on this limited, 3 minutes long sample giving a glimpse to the Polet production facilities? We see German, Italian and French precision cutting machines. We see German CNC control systems. We even see the British metrological equipment.
Damn, it's all Europe.
Damn, it's all Europe.
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