Re: Is suborbital a real market?

Rand Simberg wrote:
On Fri, 23 Nov 2007 11:09:05 +1100, in a place far, far away, Sylvia
Else <sylvia@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> made the phosphor on my monitor glow
in such a way as to indicate that:

Rand Simberg wrote:
On Fri, 23 Nov 2007 09:38:52 +1100, in a place far, far away, Sylvia
Else <sylvia@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> made the phosphor on my monitor glow
in such a way as to indicate that:

Rand Simberg wrote:

It's not only not "easy," it's not possible. Getting to orbit
requires an entirely different vehicle, which they'll learn how to
build by building suborbital vehicles first.
That's what is in question. What does one learn from building suborbital vehicles that is useful for building craft that can reach orbit and return from it?
One learns how to build operable, affordable reusable rocket vehicles.

As Jeff Greason of XCOR says, it's a lot easier to build something
that's operable and affordable, and gradually expand its performance
envelope, than to take something that achieves the needed performance
at an insanely high cost, and make it operable and affordable.
It's the "gradually expand its performance envelope" that is in question. Can this be done with a suborbital craft to the point where it becomes an orbital one?

Once again, no, at least not until one is building point-to-point
vehicles for transport, which requires almost as much performance as
orbital. But one learns how to build vehicles with similar
operability characteristics, but higher performance.

Sounds like learning how to built airliners by getting experience in painting them. A useful, and ultimately necessary, skill, no doubt, but not one that addresses the central problems.

Sylvia.
.

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