🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <ewright.728027076@convex.convex.com> ewright@convex.com (Edward V. Wright) writes:

>>If Uncle Sam doesn't pay for the initial development of the Y vehicle
>>(and possibly DC1) it won't happen. Period.

>That is by no means certain.  

For the forssable future, I think it is.

>Lockheed was ready to proceed with an 
>SSTO using its own money, if the government was willing to get out
>of the way.  

What do you mean by out of the way?

>Grumman was prepared to go ahead with the development
>of a smaller, commercial SSTO (Frequent Flyer) using its own funds, 
>if SDIO had selected its proposal for the suborbital demonstration 

That is news to me. Grumman was not one of the Phase I contractors.

>Boeing is prepared to go ahead with an SSTO project, if it
>can be shown what the markets are.  

Sure. The operative words are 'if it can be shown what the markets are'.
They won't settle for expected space tourism or other applications which
may or may not happen.

>>One DC-1 would be enough for almost all of the current launch market.

>That's because you're looking at the wrong market.  

I am looking at the existing launch market. There are no others.

>Any vehicle that
>can reach orbit, single-staged, can reach Japan or Tokyo as well.  There
>is a market for fast transportation, for people as well as cargo.  Beyond
>that, space tourism is a major market -- much more so than the satellite
>launch market, according to G. Harry Stine.

I agree. The problem is that this cannot be proven to the degree needed
to justify the opportunity cost of funding development. If you don't
agree, show us your buisness plan.

    Allen

-- 
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Allen W. Sherzer | "A great man is one who does nothing but leaves        |
|  aws@iti.org     |  nothing undone"                                       |
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