Transporting supplies has an associated cost depending on the distance traveled, the medium, the nature of the supply itself... which is why it is surprising to know that the supply chain more expensive today It barely has 388 kilometers.
Basically because it starts from the surface of the Earth towards the sky, until it reaches the astronauts who inhabit the International Space Station (ISS). Such cost is fundamentally due to gravity and the mass of what is sent: less than 500 grams can already cost more than 10,000 dollars.
Replacement parts
Sending a simple spare part to the ISS, then, is a real headache. The reason is that you have to overcome what is known as “escape velocity”, that is, the speed at which you can escape the gravity of our planet and enter space. Every gram, then, counts, and represents a huge cost of fuel.
As if that were not enough, when it comes to the ISS, the most expensive supply chain in history ends in the most exotic scrapyard in the world, as explained Peter H. Diamandis in his book The future goes faster than you think:
And since it may take months until it reaches the Space Station, a very significant part of the precious surface of the ISS is occupied by the cabinets necessary to store all the spare parts.
For this reason, initiatives such as Made in Space, the first company that tries to solve this kind of problem by manufacturing a 3D printer that would work in space:
And this is the reason why, in 2018, when an astronaut broke his finger in the middle of an ISS mission, it was not necessary to request a splint from Earth and wait months for its arrival.
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The news
The most expensive supply chain in history only has an extension of 388 kilometers
was originally published in
Xataka Science
by
Sergio Parra
.