WASHINGTON The race to develop a commercially viable, re-usable space launcher (RLV) is accelerating, a new federal report says.
But while more than a dozen government, private and foreign companies are deep into either design or development of the radical craft, none have yet reached the stage of actually constructing an operational vehicle.
Still, the Federal Aviation Administrations Re-usable Launch Vehicle 2000 assessment report said last year saw major progress in RLV evolution.
One test vehicle prototype of a two-stage, un-piloted suborbital RLV, the
launcher also made its first tentative airborne flight trials during the year. And a contest to award $10 million in cool cash to the first all-private re-usable rocketship carrying passengers into space saw additional companies joining the competition.
The "Holy Grail" of space
The development of a partially or fully re-usable space launcher could revolutionize space transportation, making flights of people or payloads into space routine and affordable. Dreamers of space development have tagged an operable RLV the "Holy Grail" of space, so significant would be the creation of such a vehicle.
Today, nearly all satellites sent aloft are boosted there by expensive throwaway rockets, most of which evolved from the Cold War fleet of ballistic missiles. But because they expend the rocket parts during flight, costs of using the vehicles remain high, averaging anywhere from $5 million to $750 million per launch, depending on the craft selected.
The only existing re-usable launcher is the NASA space shuttle. But flying 1970s technology and limited by its fragile, first-generation RLV design, the shuttle remains too expensive and limited for true
. The foundation is attempting to raise $10 million to be awarded to the first company that can perform a true commercial, re-usable space launch carrying passengers into space and back. "It is the space communitys responsibility from a public relations perspective to be honest and forthright about the risk," Diamandis added. "But this frontier were going after is worth the risk."
He spoke at an Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) space transportation conference Wednesday in Arlington, Virginia.
Bringing paying passengers back and forth from space on a commercial basis is a key stage in the development of space, Diamandis said. "We wont get there launching satellites alone," he said.
Diamandis project is expected to add another three registered contestants to his X-Prize race this year, bringing the total to 20 candidates. And he hinted to SPACE.com that he may soon announce full funding has been achieved of the $10 million prize money. "We may have something to say about that very soon," he said.
Thus far, $5 million has been raised.
NASA, Congress to aid industry
Another problem RLV backers have faced has been lack of federal support for their vehicles. But RLV developers may soon get a boost soon from the federal government.
NASA announced this week a new Space Transportation Initiative aimed at spending $4.4 billion over the next five years on potential candidates for re-usable spaceships. At the end of that period the space agency is to start buying launching services on commercial craft for astronauts a first in the space agencys history.
And those launching contracts will go to multiple RLV firms if Congress has any say in the selection. "We wont be picking a vehicle to build and own, but hopefully more than one service," said Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-California).
Rohrabacher, addressing the FAA conference Wednesday, said that the NASA effort would help stimulate the RLV industry by opening up competition to fly astronauts to the International Space Station as well as offer payload launching services and cargo flights.
RLV craft would follow shuttle
The launching contracts would be timed to follow the retirement of the space shuttles in the next decade. Rohrabacher, chairman of the House Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee, also said NASA would set aside $325 million over a two-year period to seek alternate ways of flying crews back from the space station.
The FAA report released this week charted a mix of RLV designs underway, from partially re-usable un-piloted craft to fully re-usable winged vehicles carrying both pilots and passengers. Some of the vehicles were proposed for civil space use, others for commercial roles. Two designs, the X 40-A and X 37 were possible prototypes of future military spaceplanes.
One of the prototype RLV designs, the Lockheed Martin
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