Comments on: Space Update: SpaceX, Boeing and Sierra Nevada Corp. Selected by NASA to Develop Human Launch Capability

By: stephen russell

Sat, 04 Aug 2012 15:04:21 +0000

rather see Space X & Sierra NV Corp get soime funding & Boeing last.
To expand Commercial Manned Space for all.

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By: lenrosen4

Sat, 04 Aug 2012 14:25:55 +0000

It is interesting to see that Boeing received the largest amount of money. It has the legacy relationship with NASA and probably the most cachet because, I’m sure, many of its staffers are ex-NASA or former NASA sub-contractors. But it has little new to offer in its solution.

SpaceX looks like the most economical choice for returning to human low-Earth orbital flight on American-built spacecraft. Dragon appears to have the flexibility of Soyuz which in its various configurations serves as a crew or supply vessel. But if Dragon implements successfully the spacecraft has some neat new features incorporated such as soft-landing capability.

Getting the cost down below $1,000 pound to orbit has to be one of the bigger challenges yet to be achieved. Virgin Galactic hopes to use its White Knight mother ship with a mated rocket to launch small payloads into orbit for $100 a pound. But ultimately the success of human activity in space will require us to develop capacity to manufacture the things we need for survival and future growth from what we find in space.

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By: Niccolo5

Sat, 04 Aug 2012 00:05:25 +0000

None of these three systems will do anything that needs to be done. The least bad is the SpaceX system, which is integral with Falcon 9 Heavy Lift development. Falcon 9 Heavy Lift is basically three Falcon 9s strapped together with clever fuel management designed to leave the center Falcon 9 full of fuel when the outrigger Falcon 9s are depleted of fuel. That three-stage lashup should be able to orbit a 100,000 payload cheaper than anything else. Still, estimated costs are about $1,000/pound. That’s a hell of a lot cheaper than the Space Shuttle. SpaceX is more likely than Boeing or SNC to restrain cost overruns to a smaller multiple of projections. I hope the payloads will be robotic systems and not people.

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