July 2014
The hypersonic grail: advances at DARPA, AFRL and beyond
... same technologies that enable hypersonic air-breathing missiles and aircraft also can benefit the development of a space transportation system that would allow transit to low-Earth orbit (LEO) more routinely, affordably, and safely than...
January 2018
Creating a viable cislunar economy
... that would build the infrastructure incrementally Together, ACES and XEUS form the elements of a fully reusable in-space transportation system that can be fuelled by propellants mined from water found on the lunar surface or asteroids. With such...
February 2022
An interplanetary transportation system
...elevators and a variety of contemporary rocket launch systems is therefore essential; together they will compose the space transportation architecture for this century. Rockets have three principal strengths: they are successful today, they can ...
June 2017
Spaceplane rationale - a new way of thinking
... funding. The aircraft company design teams were allowed to disband and the lobby for an aviation approach to space transportation was gravely weakened. There was a second opportunity to build a true spaceplane in the mid-1970s, when the...
October 2018
Mining the Moon for fun and profit
...-private partnership scenarios. [George Sowers] About the author Dr George Sowers has 30 years of experience in the space transportation field working for Martin Marietta, Lockheed Martin and the United Launch Alliance (ULA). He recently retired ...
April 2025
Space Elevators - a role in planetary defence?
... elevators have many strengths, but the most remarkable ones relate to their permanent space transportation infrastructure. To achieve maximum benefit from the high speed of the apex anchor around the Earth, it is best to ...
