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Comment by cpursley | Hacker News Reader

Just look at the negative tone towards all things Russia in their posts. This type of emotionally driven attitude clouds judgement.

And sure, there’s plenty to criticize about Russian politics but that doesn’t mean they aren’t a space contender.

Heck, replace Russia with India. India has a ton of basic problems but that is not stopping them from competing.

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>"[Russia] are objectively one of the most experienced and consistent contenders in the space race."

I mean I'm not sure if this is true.

How not? Russia has been launching payloads even throughout the war (30 or so in 2023 - including unspecified military systems).

They until recently sold around 100 RD-180 rockets to the US - none of which experienced issues. Not to mention putting US astronauts into space.

Russia is one of the few nations that actually have the history, engineering talent, finances and the raw resources to compete.

It might be true but I doubt a sanctioned nation will be able to continue a largely unproductive enterprise at this scale. They have definitely been punching above their weight so far though, unfortunately it will probably fizzle out soon

Have you noticed who Russia shares it's borders with? Go read about which chips the devastatingly effective Lancet 3 drone contains (hint: made in 2022 & 2023).

Plus, it's been widely reported that Russian military industrial output is way up with factories working 3 shifts, etc. We are not talking about illiterate Afghanis.

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