EADS Astrium to develop SSTO tourist vehicle

[Fat Tone]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6749873.stm

The production model will use normal jet engines to take off and climb to 12km. From there, a rocket engine will kick the vehicle straight up, taking it beyond 60km in just 80 seconds. By the time the rocket shuts down, the craft should have sufficient velocity to carry it above 100km - into space.

As the plane then begins to fall back to Earth, the pilot will use small thrusters to control its attitude, guiding the vehicle into the atmosphere from where it will use its jet engines again to return to the airport.

The total journey time will be about one-and-a-half hours.

Astrium says there will be room for four passengers on each mission. Towards the top of the climb, these individuals will be able to float free in the cabin and look through large windows at the planet below.

[Dr Mordrid]

It's a busy segment heading in the direction of hypersonic intercontinental passenger flights with next-gen larger craft.

Now that EADS has jumped in can Boeing or Lockheed be far behind?

EADS Astrium;

Homepage....

Brochure (PDF)



Rocketplane, who with Kistler has a COTS contract to compete with SpaxeX for cargo/crew flighs to ISS, has been building a similar vehicle for some time using a Lear 25 as the base structure and they're cutting metal;




Also active is XCOR;



the recently announced Benson suborbital version of Dream Chaser (similar to the Ark in "When Worlds Collide");



and of course VSS Enterprise (SS2) which is expected to roll out near years end but needs a mother ship (EVE);

[Fat Tone]

Competition is good. Drive the cost down by a factor of 1000 and I might consider a trip!

What is the fundamental reason all these projects are now happening? I mean, what has been the biggest enabler?

[Dr Mordrid]

The success of SpaceShip One and Bransons involvement plus a new attitude at NASA and the FAA regarding NewSpace.