January 2017
Elon Musk and Mars - looking for a snowball effect
... constrained budget, but we’re going to try and make as much progress as we can on the elements of the interplanetary transport booster and spaceship. There’s a good chance we won’t succeed, but we’re going to do our best and try to make as much...
January 2017
Blueprint for NASA’s journey to Mars
... operations. An ascent abort test will certify Orion’s Launch Abort System by performing an ascent abort off a test booster launched from Cape Canaveral. Mars Rover 2020 is critical for understanding the Mars surface and preparing...
November 2017
Reusable air-launch and the space access paradigm
... minimises mass margins while maximising reliability The rocket’s structure design requirements will also benefit so that booster wing area, which is not needed to lift the gross weight at low subsonic speed, can be made smaller...
March 2018
Enabling private sector success in space - SGAC perspective
... effect of this on NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS). Former President George W Bush introduced a plan to create a new booster to return the US to the Moon and then to Mars. Barack Obama then scrapped this programme before reinstating...
October 2018
The ethics of space exploration
... rush that came with the launch of the SpaceX Falcon Heavy, the choreographed landing of the strap-on boosters and the image of Earth captured from a car orbiting the Sun. What a ride! Who could have...
October 2018
Sustainable ways of living on the Moon and Mars
... rocket propellant from the Earth is unrealistic. Currently a launch to low Earth orbit (LEO) via the Atlas V booster costs US$20,000/kg while SpaceX promises a reduction to US$1,700/kg with its partly reusable Falcon Heavy rocket. Of course...
