Talking to George Whitesides briefly last night, he said that they’ve done full-thrust tests of the engine, but not yet full duration. I may have a piece on this next week.

Neil Milburn just showed video of a flight to about a mile in altitude, with deployable legs. I think they have a little too much compliance in them, though. It did a cute little bounce after what looked like a slightly hard landing. Talking about a “tube” vehicle, fifteen-inch diameter, that will be useful for testing out avionics. It’s interesting to see that both Masten and Armadillo’s new vehicles have aeroshells.

“No company on the face of the planet knows more about these expandable habitats than we do.” 185,000 square foot expansion of facilities in North Vegas for production, not R&D. Clients are corporate and “sovereign client.” Up to fifty countries interested in this. Talked about meeting with the Chilean astronaut corps, who sat in one chair in his office. A lot of pent-up demand for smaller countries to get into space in some way other than NASA and Russia. Coming out with client leasing guide in middle of November. Have been cautious about shallow pocket books in the recession, so have expanded menu items from seven to eighteen, for more flexibility in amount of time and volume clients can lease. Using a real-estate model. Are offering financing. View themselves as wholesaler, so have no problems with reselling or subletting, as long as users meet minimum requirements. Thinking farther out, look to moon as stepping stone to Mars. Would like to see Delta IV upgraded to seventy-eighty ton vehicle.