Category Archives: Launch Vehicles

RLV Markets III: Counter-Intuitive Ramifications of RLV Passenger Transportation

Posted on April 25, 2009 by Jonathan Goff

One of the most common metrics used in discussing new launch vehicles and particularly RLVs is the price in $/lb delivered to LEO. You almost can’t have a discussion about the Space Shuttle, Saturn V, SpaceX, new commercial RLVs, or … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Commercial Space, Launch Vehicles, RLV Markets | 32 Comments

RLV Markets Part II: The Black Aluminum Analogy

Posted on April 22, 2009 by Jonathan Goff

[Editor’s Note: It’s been too long since I wrote the first article in this series, and I wanted to write some more on this topic.  My tendency to try to cram everything into one ginormous ominbus post has been almost … Continue reading →

Posted in Commercial Space, Launch Vehicles, RLV Markets, Space Transportation, SpaceX, Technology | 37 Comments

Random Thought: Atlas-V Phase 1 + Orion + Prop Transfer

Posted on December 31, 2008 by Jonathan Goff

Here’s a quick thought on a way to use EELVs for launching Orion that I was thinking about tonight.   One of the reasons why the CEV is so big that it’s hard to launch on an existing EELV is because … Continue reading →

Posted in Commercial Space, ESAS, Launch Vehicles, NASA | 19 Comments

Falcon IX Upper Stage Recovery Kremlinology

Posted on December 6, 2008 by Jonathan Goff

I just wanted to post a couple of short thoughts about the Falcon IX Upper Stage information that came out in the article I linked to in a blog post a few days ago. Specifically this picture from Figure 9 … Continue reading →

Posted in Commercial Space, Launch Vehicles, SpaceX | 38 Comments

Fun SpaceX Paper and Presentation

Posted on November 29, 2008 by Jonathan Goff

I just saw two interesting SpaceX documents linked to on NASASpaceflight.com. The first is a paper that was presented at the Fourth Asian Space Conference back in October, and the second is a presentation from the von Braun Symposium, also … Continue reading →

Posted in Commercial Space, COTS, Launch Vehicles, SpaceX | 13 Comments

The “Fantasy” of Propellant Depots?

Posted on November 20, 2008 by Jonathan Goff

Space Journalist/Blogger Rob Coppinger wrote an article tonight attempting to debunk “The Fantasy of Propellant Depots“, which he makes out to be some sort of religious mantra in the New Space community.  I will admit that depots are finally starting … Continue reading →

Posted in Commercial Space, International Space Collaboration, Launch Vehicles, Lunar Commerce, NASA, Propellant Depots, Space Development, Space Policy, Space Transportation | 21 Comments

ULA Propellant Depot Paper (Updated)

Posted on November 6, 2008 by Jonathan Goff

Here’s one other interesting paper, which was presented at the SPACE 2008 conference a few months ago. As I mentioned in a previous post, I was given a copy of a few of the ULA papers before the conference, but … Continue reading →

Posted in Commercial Space, COTS, ESAS, International Space Collaboration, Launch Vehicles, Lunar Commerce, MSS, NASA, Propellant Depots, Space Development, Space Transportation, Technology | 14 Comments

RLV Markets Part I: The Importance of High Flight Rates

Posted on October 9, 2008 by Jonathan Goff

Now that I’ve wrapped up my Orbital Access Methodologies series, I wanted to share some thoughts about the business and market development side of reusable space transportation.  Some of this may be old-hat for many of you, but I figured … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Commercial Space, Launch Vehicles, RLV Markets, Space Development, Space Transportation | 14 Comments

Congratulations to SpaceX

Posted on September 29, 2008 by Jonathan Goff

I try not to read news or surf the net on Sundays (that whole keeping the Sabbath Day holy thing, you know), so I missed being able to watch SpaceX’s fourth launch live.  But, as everyone reading this already knows, … Continue reading →

Posted in Commercial Space, Launch Vehicles, Space Development | 5 Comments

Air-Launch Paper

Posted on September 25, 2008 by Jonathan Goff

Clark Lindsey has already commented on this paper, but I figured it was worth a little further discussion here, since I’ve already written a few articles about air-launched RLV ideas.  Air launch is definitely an idea I am warming up … Continue reading →

Posted in Commercial Space, COTS, Launch Vehicles, Space Transportation, Technology | 6 Comments