Looking for a coastal launch site for orbital flight. Orbital vehicle is two stage, with first stage reusable, flyback vertical landing (like SpaceX).
Developing 100,000 lbf thrust lox/hydrogen engine. Deep throttle capability to allow vertical landing.
Georgia has a nice site on the coast just south of Brunswick. Rail, interstate, and barge access, launches east over water, and no hurricane has hit the county since 1896. Would love to get Blue as our anchor tenant!
Georgia has a nice site on the coast just south of Brunswick. Rail, interstate, and barge access, launches east over water, and no hurricane has hit the county since 1896. Would love to get Blue as our anchor tenant!
(If this double-posts, please delete. And, Rand, email me about your WordPress installation…)
It reminds me of the hypothesized 2 stage version of the SSTO in Fallen Angels.
“hypothesized 2 stage version of the SSTO i”
I think you misunderstand what an SSTO is.
At what point does secrecy become vaporware?
Blue Origin is enormously serious, Bezos is very committed to the proposition and they are the real deal. They’ve been hush hush on most of their test flights but they are capable of pretty much everything SpaceX has done given sufficient time and funding, which Bezos is apparently willing to allow. The downside for them is that they’re at a very bad part of the curve, whereas SpaceX is already taking in billions of dollars in revenue which makes it far, far easier to spend billions on continuing R&D.
Of course the other side of that coin is that Jeff Bezos has lots deeper pockets that Elon Musk so isn’t as rushed to get to market. It also looks like because of his deeper pockets he was able to detach himself from the NASA tar baby that is dominating the SpaceX business plan.
On a related note there is a deserted airfield on the north end of Matagorda Island that would be ideal for his needs. Currently its run by the Texas Dept. of Parks but I am sure he could get Gov. Perry to make it available. The howling of the environmentalists over doing so would make it all the sweeter to Gov. Perry.
Talk is cheap.
Does Bezos just want some revenue coming in? It secures a launch site for in the unforseable future he does launch something, in the meantime .. charge SpaceX for actual launches.
Matagordo Island… now there is an historic site in the annals of New Space if there ever was one!
Dale,
Yes, its almost the thirtieth anniversary isn’t it?
Does Blue Origin have requirements for a range of launch azimuths? If they just need close-to-equatorial, there’s still a fair amount or real estate between Brownsville and Corpus Christi that can thread the Straits of Florida. Otherwise, they’ll need the East Coast or maybe Vieques.
Kodiak Launch Complex. Launch into a polar orbit going southbound. Abort downrange into Hickam or Oz. Cheers –
Australia’s east coast is perfectly positioned for launching into orbits coplanar with the ecliptic, and eventually it would make a lot of sense to do that for a space station that supports interplanetary missions.
You don’t want anything to do with the Australian government.
Trent,
Yes, they are under the Moon Treaty, as would be any payloads launched out of it 🙁