Saturday, October 15, 2011

Space Companies Hatch Plans for Reusable Rockets

Technology Review

  • In a speech at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., in late September, Elon Musk, the CEO and chief technology officer of SpaceX, announced plans to develop a fully reusable version of the company's Falcon 9 rocket.  ...I've come to the conclusion that it can be solved, and SpaceX is going to try and do it."
  • Musk is backing up his speech with development work. 
  • SpaceX is not the only company actively working on an orbital reusable launch vehicle. Blue Origin, the secretive aerospace company founded by Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos, has NASA funding to mature the design of a space vehicle that could be launched on existing expendable rockets, such as the Atlas V.
Comment:  Don't forget Skylon, the first Single Stage to Orbit spacecraft, which is due in the next 10 years, according to plans.   Also, XCor wants to develop a fully reusable spacecraft.

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