Category Archives: Space Transportation

RLV Markets VII: Four Models for Commercializing Reusable Launch

Posted on July 25, 2026 by Jonathan Goff

It’s been almost a decade since the most recent post in this series, but I’ve had a lot of different things pushing me to want to do a writeup on potential business models for RLV developers. I think that fully-reusable … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Commercial Crew, Commercial Space, Economics, Entrepreneurship, Launch Vehicles, MSS, RLV Markets, Space Development, Space Transportation, SpaceX, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Lunar Space Elevator Design

Posted on April 23, 2026 by Kirk Sorensen

The previous posts in this series described what the lunar space elevator can do. This one works through the structural mechanics that determine how much ribbon material you actually need to build it. The central engineering question for any space … Continue reading →

Posted in Lunar Commerce, Lunar Exploration and Development, Space Development, Space Tethers, Space Transportation | 3 Comments

Revisiting LUNOX and an ISRU critique

Posted on April 21, 2026 by Kirk Sorensen

There’s a particular NASA mission concept from 1993 that deserves more attention than it gets, and a 2007 critique of lunar in-situ resource utilization that deserves to be read alongside it. Taken together, they map out why lunar ISRU has … Continue reading →

Posted in ESAS, Lunar Commerce, Lunar Exploration and Development, Space Transportation | 5 Comments

Ambition, Resources, Competence: Why SpaceX Doesn’t Yet Have Many Competitors

Posted on August 30, 2025 by Jonathan Goff

I read a tweet today that kind of rubbed me wrong, about SpaceX’s current market dominance: At least one friend asked him if he really thought that nobody else had tried, and he pointed to how both ULA and Arianespace … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Commercial Space, Launch Vehicles, Space Transportation, SpaceX | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

NASA’s Selection of the Blue Moon Lander for Artemis V

Posted on May 25, 2023 by Jonathan Goff

Last week, when NASA announced that they were picking Blue Origin’s National Team to develop a sustainable human lander for the Artemis V mission, what surprised me wasn’t the selection, but the fact that I’ve come around to really liking the decision. Continue reading →

Posted in Blue Origin, Commercial Space, Lunar Exploration and Development, Propellant Depots, Reusable Lunar Landers, Space Transportation, SpaceX | Tagged , , , , , | 12 Comments

Fill ‘er Up: New AIAA Aerospace America Article on Propellant Depots

Posted on September 2, 2022 by Jonathan Goff

I was interviewed by John Kelvey for an article on propellant depots, which AIAA just published in this month’s Aerospace America magazine. Here’s an online version of the article for those of you who don’t get the print edition. Also … Continue reading →

Posted in Propellant Depots, Space Policy, Space Transportation | Leave a comment

Independent Perspectives on Cislunar Depotization

Posted on August 26, 2022 by Jonathan Goff

I was invited to participate in a workshop this week in Chantilly, VA focused on cislunar propellant depots. As part of the preparation for the workshop, they asked for stakeholder to provide their perspectives on depot architectures, the benefits of … Continue reading →

Posted in Lunar Exploration and Development, Propellant Depots, Space Development, Space Transportation | Leave a comment

An Updated Propellant Depot Taxonomy Part VI: Roving Depots

Posted on February 22, 2021 by Jonathan Goff

In the last post in this series, I discussed the idea of large-scale depots for human spaceflight applications, which operate in fixed, low-orbits. While the final post in this series will investigate human spaceflight depots that operate in fixed higher … Continue reading →

Posted in Commercial Space, ISRU, Launch Vehicles, Lunar Exploration and Development, Mars, NASA, NEOs, Orbital Dynamics, Propellant Depots, Space Development, Space Exploration, Space Transportation, ULA, Venus | 10 Comments

An Updated Propellant Depot Taxonomy Part V: Human Spaceflight Fixed Depots (Low-Orbit)

Posted on February 16, 2021 by Jonathan Goff

For this next depot taxonomy post, we’ll finally be talking about what people usually think about when they hear the term orbital propellant depot — larger, cryogenic refueling facilities, focused on enabling large-scale human spaceflight missions, performed by a diverse … Continue reading →

Posted in Blue Origin, Commercial Space, Launch Vehicles, Lunar Commerce, Lunar Exploration and Development, Mars, NEOs, Orbital Dynamics, Propellant Depots, RLV Markets, Space Development, Space Exploration, Space Transportation, SpaceX, ULA, Venus | Tagged , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

An Updated Propellant Depot Taxonomy Part IV: Smallsat Launcher Refueling Depots

Posted on November 14, 2020 by Jonathan Goff

After a brief hiatus, I’d like to continue this series with the type of depot I’ve spent the most time thinking about over the last several years, and the first type of depot that really fits the mold of what … Continue reading →

Posted in Launch Vehicles, Lunar Exploration and Development, Orbital Dynamics, Propellant Depots, Space Exploration, Space Transportation, SpaceX, ULA, Venus | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments