Europe's new Ariane 6 rocket is set for its first-ever launch next week, carrying with it the continent's hopes of regaining independent access to space and fending off soaring competition from Elon Musk's SpaceX.
Sorry for my ignorance, but what would the Model T be here? And why does it make this rocket obsolete? I don't know much more about the subject than I see in the press.
That's fine, but is that so essential right now that it can be compared to going from a horse-drawn carriage to a car? I mean, do you think there won't be room for disposable launchers anymore?
One can argue about having a disposable second stage (like Falcon-9) vs. full re-usability (like the upcoming Starship), as the latter is not very efficient fuel wise. But not having a reusable first stage just makes it way too expensive to be able to compete in the currently market dominated by the Falcon-9.