#043 - Orbex collapsed, Ratcliffe got cancelled, and Rupert Lowe is restoring Britain

About this episode

The episode discusses the collapse of Orbex and broader themes in British politics and space ambitions.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.anglofuturism.co It’s Valentine’s Day morning and Calum woke up with Rupert Lowe promising to restore Britain. Tom made bacon sandwiches and tea with plenty of sugar. And Britain’s vertical launch dreams just died—Orbex, the country’s great hope for homegrown rockets, has collapsed into administration. Is this a tragedy or were they building the wrong rockets all along? What follows is a sprawling argument about whether Britain should mourn or celebrate, why the government won’t fund proper space ambitions, and the deeper aesthetic war underlying every political debate in this country. From Jim Ratcliffe’s “colonisation” comments triggering the PM to demand an apology, to the question of whether HCBGs or keffiyeh-wearing Oxfam shoppers represent the real Britain, Tom and Calum diagnose why we can’t have nice things—and what it would take to build an O’Neill cylinder with cricket fields anyway. Tom and Calum discuss: * The Orbex collapse as Britain’s space 9/11: The vertical launch company went into administration after a Franco-German takeover fell through. Tom mourns the loss of Union Jack rockets. Calum says…

People in this episode

Hosts: Tom Ough, Calum Drysdale

Topics covered

• space industry
• political debate
• British politics
• rocket launch
• government funding
• cultural identity

Keywords

• Orbex
• Rupert Lowe
• Jim Ratcliffe
• space launch
• British politics
• government funding
• rocket industry

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Orbex, SpaceX

Places: Britain, Franco-German

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