The Orbital Thermal Bottleneck — Physics Dictates Design
Open questionOrbital physics — heat in space can only be shed by radiation, and launch costs run high (~$2,700/kg reported) — forces nearly identical engineering choices (small nuclear reactors, laser links, radiative cooling) on mutually hostile countries. The open question this entry guards: identical designs look like coordination, but are better explained by physics dictating design; convergence is held as technological determinism, not evidence of a joint program.
The engine's record — word for word
[Report #107 — 2026 Space Race] LEO heat rejection is limited to thermal radiation and launch cost runs high (~$2,700/kg reported); these physical constraints force near-identical engineering (HALEU SMRs, OISL links, radiative cooling) across mutually hostile actors. Convergent design is technological determinism — the Compound-Path Null (H6) — not coordination. Apex held; manifestation arm d.
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