Have Spaceplane Will Travel

space.com ^ | 02/24/05 | Leonard David

[KevinDavis]

ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico -- Reusable spaceplanes that propel ticket-holding passengers to the edge of space are slowly becoming reality.

Among several firms literally hammering away at this prospect is Rocketplane Limited, Inc., an Oklahoma corporation. The company is eager to make space travel as safe, convenient, and routine as air transportation, with work ramping up on their Rocketplane XP design.

The spaceliner’s first commercial passenger flight is projected to be early 2007.

The plan calls for Rocketplane XP to depart from the Oklahoma Spaceport located in Burns Flat and whisk customers skyward to over 60 miles (100 kilometers) above Earth. At that height, a spectacular view is promised, along with "over the top" weightlessness for up to four minutes. The company also envisions transporting innovative scientific experiments and valuable payloads to sub-orbital space and beyond.

Rocketplane XP and the space tourism business were highlighted here at the Space Technology & Applications International Forum (STAIF), held February 13-17

[KevinDavis]

[gaijin]

Long-term, I think one of the biggest obstacles to this isn't going to be the technology. It's going to be REGULATION.

I'm still enormously enthusiastic about it, however.

[goldstategop]

Cool. And the views would be awesome. I wonder about the pricetag of a flight. I could never afford it.

(Denny Crane: "There are two places to find the truth. First God and then Fox News.")

[Brett66]

This is extra cool for me, since I live in Oklahoma, it's just a couple of hours away.

[Kirkwood]

It looks a little like a Lear Jet with A4 Skyhawk wings and a rocket engine stuck up the butt.

[Reaganesque]

Not bad looking either. The caption said it is basically a modified Lear jet. Interesting.

[af_vet_rr]

Long-term, I think one of the biggest obstacles to this isn't going to be the technology. It's going to be REGULATION.

Take heart, the industry, as young as it is, is getting organized to both keep the need for regulation minimal, and to fight any that does come up.

[techcor]

It doesn't say how many people it will hold per launch. Any ideas?

[Richard Kimball]

This also brings me back to the thought I've had for years. The Air Force, had they been allowed to continue the experiments they were involved in, instead of funneling all the money to NASA for the space program, would have had planes flying to the moon and back by now. I think the transfer to NASA put us behind the curve, and we've never caught up.

[KevinDavis]

I think you are right.. After watching the Right Stuff, had we gone the rocketplane route this would not be big news. I think that Kennedy dropped the ball on this one.

[KevinDavis]

I don't know..

[RightWhale]

Kennedy dropped the ball on this one

It was Congress. The House had been agitating to do this for a year or more before JFK's announcement. It was to be the answer to the USSR's space program, which at the time was decades ahead of ours.

[af_vet_rr]

This also brings me back to the thought I've had for years. The Air Force, had they been allowed to continue the experiments they were involved in, instead of funneling all the money to NASA for the space program, would have had planes flying to the moon and back by now.

In fact, Chuck Yeager was in charge of the school to train the pilots for this project. I believe the NF-104 he crashed in (the famous crash in 'The Right Stuff'), was from that school - it was going to be one of the training vehicles (hence the nozzles/jets placed around the craft).

[add925]

The name of the new Spaceplane?

Vomit Comet II

[Hatteras]

I think it needs to be a glass-bottomed plane. $250K to look out a little porthole? And then what if you get a seat next to the wing? Sheesh, what a bummer that would be...

[KevinDavis]

I think it was a big mistake..

[RightWingAtheist]