This series on new cities might be my favorite Uncharted Territories posts ever. They combine everything I love about Tomas’ writing: geography, economics, design, history, urban planning, meteorology, transportation, etc., into one predictive package. Well done!
Unfortunately, Starlink, Boca Chica village and the surrounding land have an average elevation of just one metre. With sea level rise and increasing hurricane strength likely, this does not seem such a good place to locate a major city. For US territories, the kilometre high mountains of Eastern Puerto Rico at latitude 18 degrees north and with the width of the Atlantic Ocean to the East may be a better place.
Great to see these two first cities are going south. The near-shoring is a real phenomenon and not one that’s often put at the center of political conversations, not to mention the gains in climate’s stability and all the land to expand
Andy Weir (who wrote 'The Martian') had, in his second book, Kenya as the world's leading spaceport for the exact same reasons: close to the equator, facing east. Makes me bullish on the country's future.
Understanding that Elon chose the best spot in the USA for his star base city, when we need a port optimized for world-to-world travel it seems like the mouth of the Amazon in Brazil would be high on the list.
Rework the existing road to the mountain top and launch to the ENE to avoid the Lesser Antilles. Excellent labor force and the industrial jobs for space launching would save on social security costs. Upgrade Luquillo port facilities https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luquillo,_Puerto_Rico
Mars, really? What's to be gained by going there? At least the Moon has H3 and is only days away instead of months. They're both pretty much equally hostile environments. A research outpost sure, a few super wealthy tourists, sure.
This series on new cities might be my favorite Uncharted Territories posts ever. They combine everything I love about Tomas’ writing: geography, economics, design, history, urban planning, meteorology, transportation, etc., into one predictive package. Well done!
I’m glad to hear! I literally can’t tell when posts work or not!
Tomas,
If we can tell your posts are working, I'm sure you can as well! Keep them coming.
Unfortunately, Starlink, Boca Chica village and the surrounding land have an average elevation of just one metre. With sea level rise and increasing hurricane strength likely, this does not seem such a good place to locate a major city. For US territories, the kilometre high mountains of Eastern Puerto Rico at latitude 18 degrees north and with the width of the Atlantic Ocean to the East may be a better place.
Wow Tomas, wow. This was such a fascinating read and every word was on point. Thanks for writing this so beautifully
I second this! I am also liking the length of these articles. I can get thru these on short work breaks..
Ah glad to hear! That’s the goal
Why not launch rockets from Guantanamo?
Logistics: far away from US providers and there are no roads
Very little space
South coast, not East
Hispaniola is on the path
Great to see these two first cities are going south. The near-shoring is a real phenomenon and not one that’s often put at the center of political conversations, not to mention the gains in climate’s stability and all the land to expand
Andy Weir (who wrote 'The Martian') had, in his second book, Kenya as the world's leading spaceport for the exact same reasons: close to the equator, facing east. Makes me bullish on the country's future.
I am enjoying the series.
Understanding that Elon chose the best spot in the USA for his star base city, when we need a port optimized for world-to-world travel it seems like the mouth of the Amazon in Brazil would be high on the list.
Rework the existing road to the mountain top and launch to the ENE to avoid the Lesser Antilles. Excellent labor force and the industrial jobs for space launching would save on social security costs. Upgrade Luquillo port facilities https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luquillo,_Puerto_Rico
Mars, really? What's to be gained by going there? At least the Moon has H3 and is only days away instead of months. They're both pretty much equally hostile environments. A research outpost sure, a few super wealthy tourists, sure.
How are the roads in American Samoa?
I understand that last minute shipping from the USA will be extremely expensive, but what's the relative gains from using less rockets fuel?
Maybe in the future, when processes are optimized. But right now the value of speed of iteration is much higher than the value of energy saving!
Puerto Rico?
No roads, the Lesser Antilles straight to their east
Key west?
Expensive real estate, the other keys (not to mention Bahamas) to their east!
I have a hard time managing Midjourney!