Competition is good, because it cuts costs. The Dream Chaser space plane by SNC is another way to get to and from Low Earth Orbit (LEO), competition to SpaceX's Starship. Like the Space Shuttle, it can land like a plane on a runway.
The Space Shuttle was supposedly reusable, to cut the costs of launching to LEO, but in practice, checking and replacing the heat shield tiles was so expensive that it still cost billions each launch. It was also not very safe, with two shuttles blowing up, one during launch, and one during re-entry. It was retired 13 years ago, and all astronauts had to use the Soviet/Russian Soyuz rocket system to get to and from the International Space Station (ISS) until SpaceX's Dragon Crew Capsule started work.
Musk's Starship is intended to colonise Mars, though it will be essential to launching all the Starlink satellites that will be needed to set up a mass universal satellite internet/phone system. So the Starship lands vertically using retro-propulsion (the atmosphere on Mars isn't thick enough for wings to work). This is tricky, though I don't doubt that SpaceX will eventually make it work.
So, two alternate, competing technologies. It --- at last! --- looks as if Dream Chaser will make its first test flight soon. That is, if the rocket that is supposed to launch it is ready by then, which seems unlikely. Perhaps SNC should have a chat with SpaceX, and use the Falcon 9 rocket to launch its Dream Chaser.
This video is a good explanation of Dream Chaser.
No comments:
Post a Comment