Endeavor, the second to last trip and the dawn of a new era.

Courtesy of Space.com

The Space Shuttle Endeavor is poised to launch on April 29th 2011.  This is the second to last launch of any space shuttle.  It is the end of an era of government run space exploration.  And the beginning of the take over by private enterprise. 

"Four private companies are the leaders in the effort to build commercial spaceships to carry astronauts to low-Earth orbit and the International Space Station after the space shuttles retire."

"They recieved contracts from NASA in its Commercial Crew Development program, which aims to spur creation of a private replacement for the space shuttles. The U.S. space agency hopes outsourcing travel to low-Earth orbit will free it to focus on building a rocket to carry astronauts to an asteroid and Mars. "

"The four contract winners are Blue Origin, Sierra Nevada, SpaceX and Boeing."

Brokn Dodge posted a comment on http://www.space.com/11502-space-tourism-moon-mission-space-adventures.html

It is interesting. I will quote it.  I wonder what article he is referring too.
"I read an article on another site that said something to the effect of: Russia currently holds apx 40% of the $200 billion dollar per year world wide launch business. They reasonably expect to grow that to over 50% by this time next year. Considering their entire program cost them less than $9 billion per year. Thats one heck of a profit. They've bought this whole commercial thing completely. I figure it puts Russia in a conflict of interest. They don't want to lose all those valuable tickets to the ISS NASA buys each year.

SpaceX published prices for the same mission would have 6-7 people on the same mission for about the same money. That would lower the cost per seat for a lunar slingshot mission to less than the current ticket price to the ISS on a Soyuz."

This points out that Russia, the first to launch a tourist astronaught, may be making plans to expand on the tourist space trips.  Also, they already make aprox $80 billion, a $70 billion per year profit in being a space taxi.  They will compete against the new upcomming businesses.  But, costs will come down since Space X will be so much cheaper.  This is where competetion makes things affordable to the masses.  I will be watching with great interest.

However, I think that these new companies are vying or the billion dollar projects and that leaves a void for the normal income person.  What will fill that void and make space available to all?

What about a lottery?  I wonder how many people would enter a lottery to win a trip to space instead of millions of dollars like the average state lottery.  400 people have paid the $200,000 ticket price to ride with Virgin Galactic on a Suborbital flight.  If a lottery was developed to take people to space....  I might play that lottery.

The Best Ways to Get to space

http://www.space.com/8541-6-private-companies-launch-humans-space.html


I want to go to Space!  I have watched Star Trek, Star Wars, Battle Star Gallactica, Deep Space 9, Star Gate, and many other Sci Fi, Space oriented movies and TV shows my whole life.  I know that life in space wont be like the movies or TV shows.  But, it is still exciting.  It's human nature to want to explore the unknown.  There are those that fear it.  But, there are also the brave few that push back the frontier and expand the limits of our knowlege.  I want to go to Space and stay in a space habitat.  I would like to visit other Planets.  The reality is that will take many boring years of travel based on the tech we have now.  But, we can dream of the future possibilities.  It starts with getting to space cheaply.  Then mastering travel between the Earth and the Moon.  And step by step we expand our frontier.

The era of private spaceflight is breaking new ground with the first private company that has launched a spacecraft that has orbited the earth.  Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) and it's Dragon spaceship was the first private company to orbit the earth.

Now NASA has tapped SpaceX and Orbital Sciences to build unmanned cargo ships to stock up the International Space Station after the Space Shuttle is retired. 
A Lockheed Martin designed Orion capsule will be used as a space station lifeboat.

Aerospace juggernaut Boeing is also hoping to compete for commercial crew capabilities.

Bigelow Aerospace is hoping to put some of its inflatable Space Station Habitats on the International Space Station.
There a many new companies working on Spacecrafts to put Americans in space.

Here's a look at some of the companies vying to lead the future of human spaceflight:


Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX)
Company: SpaceX
Spaceship Name: Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket
Founder(s): Elon Musk, co-founder of PayPal
Backing: $100 million of Musk's personal fortune, $20 million more from outside investors
Location: Hawthorne, California
Launched the Business: 2002
Plans to Launch into Space: Debut launch tests in 2010, first operational flights in 2011.
Number of Passengers: 7 maximum, or fewer with a mixture of cargo and crew

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rockets and Dragon spacecraft are initially expected to be unmanned vehicles to serve NASA's cargo needs for the International Space Station. Musk has said Dragon could be ready to launch astronauts within three years of receiving a contract from NASA to do so. The company currently has a $1.6 billion contract to provide 12 unmanned cargo deliveries to the station through 2016.  They have already launched the Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Dragon spacecraft.  http://andrewliptak.wordpress.com/2010/12/09/the-start-of-something-fantastic-spacex-orbits-the-earth/
On December 8th 2010 the Dragon spacecraft was the first private enterprise spacecraft to launch and orbit the earth twice before returning for a splash down.  The Falcon 9 rocket is about 180 feet (57 meters) tall and is a two-stage booster. The Dragon capsule is a solar-powered spacecraft designed to be grappled by the space station's robotic arm and installed on a docking port.  With a successfull flight and orbit under their belt Space X is hoping the next flight will be manned and will take astronaughts to the international space station this year, 2011.  They have built their Spacecraft on tried and tested tech so it is highly possible that this will happen.


Orbital Sciences
Company: Orbital Sciences
Spaceship Name: Cygnus and Taurus 2 rocket
Founder(s): David W. Thompson, Bruce W. Ferguson, Scott L. Webster
Backing: Publicly traded company, $1.1 billion in revenue
Location: Dulles, Virginia
Launched the Business: 1982
Plans to Launch into Space: 2011
Number of Passengers: So far, the Cygnus is purely unmanned

A veteran hand when it comes to rocket launches, Orbital Sciences has a $1.9 billion contract with NASA to provide eight cargo missions for the International Space Station using its unmanned Cygnus spacecraft and the new Taurus 2 rocket. Orbital is planning the launches in 2011 from Wallops Island in Virginia.
Orbital has not announced plans on whether it may try to convert the Cygnus vehicle for crewed missions. The Taurus 2 rocket stands about 131 feet (40 meters) tall and is a two-stage booster to be topped by the Cygnus spacecraft. 

Virgin Galactic LLC (VG), the world's first commercial spaceline, announced on Dec. 15 that it will support Sierra Nevada Space Systems' (SNC) and Orbital Sciences Corp.'s (OSC) work on commercial space vehicles. 
http://www.compositesworld.com/news/virgin-to-support-sierra-nevada-orbital-sciences-space-programs

Blue Origin
Company: Blue Origin
Spaceship Name: New Shepard
Founder(s): Jeff Bezos
Backing: His personal fortune as founder of Amazon.com
Location: Kent, Washington
Launched the Business: 2004
Plans to Launch into Space: Mid-2012
Number of Passengers: at least 3 astronauts

Blue Origin has tested a prototype of its New Shepard spacecraft at the company's proving grounds in Texas. New Shepard is expected to be a vertical launch and landing vehicle capable of reaching an altitude of about 75 miles (120 km) .
NASA awarded Blue Origin $3.7 million to develop an astronaut escape system and build a composite space capsule prototype as part of its commercial crew program.


Bigelow Aerospace
Company: Bigelow Aerospace
Spaceship Name: Sundancer and BA-330
Founder(s): Robert Bigelow
Backing: $180 million of his personal fortune as owner of the Budget Suites of America hotel chain.
Location: North Las Vegas, Nevada
Launched the Business: 1999
Plans to Launch into Space: 2015
Number of Passengers: Sundancer to support crews of 3, BA-330 to support 6-person crews

Bigelow Aerospace has been paving new ground in inflatable spacecraft and already launched two mini-space station prototypes, called Genesis 1 and Genesis 2. The company's larger Sundancer and BA-330 vehicles are expected to serve as space stations, not capsules. Additionally, company founder Robert Bigelow has set his sights on developing a private moon base using the inflatable technology.
Since Bigelow Aerospace does not have rockets or spacecraft to reach its space stations, the company has been working closely with Boeing on potential crew capsules.

Boeing received $18 million from NASA this year to support development of its own 7-person spacecraft.


SpaceDev/Sierra Nevada Corp.
Company: SpaceDev
Spaceship Name: Dream Chaser
Founder: Jim Benson (deceased), now led by Fatih Ozmen
Backing: Sierra Nevada Corp., of Sparks, Nev.
Location: Poway, Calif.
Launched the Business: 1997
Plans to Launch into Space: Under Development
Number of passengers: 4 on suborbital flights, up to 6 for orbital flights.

California-based SpaceDev is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sierra Nevada Corp. (which acquired it in 2008) and has been developing the reusable Dream Chaser space plane to launch crew and cargo into space at an Atlas 5 rocket.
In February, Sierra Nevada won $20 million in NASA funds to continue the Dream Chaser's development. The spacecraft's design is based on the HL-20 lifting body tested by NASA and aims to launch on a rocket and land on a conventional runway, for quick turnaround and reuse.


Virgin Galactic
Company: Virgin Galactic
Spaceship Name: SpaceShipTwo
Founder(s): British Billionaire Sir Richard Branson
Backing: His personal fortune as founder of Virgin Group
Location: London, England, and Spaceport, New Mexico
Launched the Business: 2004
Plans to Launch into Space: end of 2011 or early 2012
Number of Passengers: 6 passengers, 2 pilots

The only air-launched vehicle in the group, Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo vehicle is still just a suborbital vehicle designed for space tourism jaunts into space. The company envisions launching paying passengers on suborbital thrill rides for about $200,000 per seat. However, the spacecraft's mother ship the huge WhiteKnightTwo aircraft ? could be modified to launch small rockets or satellites for NASA or other users.
SpaceShipTwo is designed by veteran aerospace engineer Burt Rutan and the company he founded, Scaled Composites of Mojave, Calif. It is a larger version of SpaceShipOne, which successfully flew on suborbital flights in 2004. They will be operating out of Spaceport America in near Truth or Consequences New Mexico.  Several stages of test flights have already been accomplished and more then 390 tickets have been presold at $200,000 each.  Virgin Galactic, not wanting to waste time, will be working with Orbital Sciences and Sierra Nevada Space Systems' (SNC) to move into orbital flights and commercial ventures.

These are some of the few companies that seem to be in the forefront.  We must keep watch. There appears new companies all the time and tech is hidden from the public until the company is ready to unveil it.  I am watching and it is exciting!

The First Space Travel Agency is Booking Trips Now!

Trips are being booked!  Launch time is approaching!  You too can go to Space, all you need is a big wallet!  There is a company that has already sent people into Space and to the International Space Station using Russian launch vehicles.  Spaceadventures.com has sent up 8 people so far.  They have training available and are booking Zerogravity, Suborbital, Orbital, and Lunar trips.  Are you ready to go to Space?  Do you have a spare million dollars?  As more and more companies make this available to the paying public, the cost will come down.  That is expected.  But, the cost has a long ways to go before the average person is able to take advantage of it.  The rich and the occaisional lottery winner will be the most likely Astronaught for a few years.  Space Adventures is there to book your trip.

I hope the price evetually comes down to $5,000 - $10,000. Take the pole on the right side. Let's find out what the public is willing to pay for a trip to space.

I have heard rumors that a Japanese company is planning to have Suborbital trips for $10,000.  I think on my next post I will explore the costs that budding Commercial Space companies are proposing.

Space X makes History With Orbital Launch

http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/photos-spacex-dragon-spacecraft-test-flight-101208.html

Space X has done it! They made it to orbit where only Governments have trod. 

Space.com had this to say:

"The spaceflight company Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, launched the world's first commercial space capsule into orbit and returned to Earth today in a huge leap forward for California-based company, private spaceflight and NASA's plan to rely on such spacecraft in the future.

SpaceX's first Dragon space capsule, as it is known, blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 10:43 a.m. EST (1543 GMT) today (Dec. 8), completed two orbits around Earth and then splashed down in the Pacific Ocean 500 miles (nearly 804 km) off the coast of Mexico to end what appears to be a successful demonstration flight.  On Dec. 8, 2010, SpaceX joined a realm previously only occupied by national space agencies when it launched the private Dragon spacecraft into orbit and returned it to Earth successfully. "

They made it! What an incredible day! Space is now accessable by private industy.  It's no longer the realm of the Government.  This pic above is something we will see alot more of.  Private enterprise can take people to orbit and space stations and soon the moon.  I am so excited. 

Congratulations Space X!

Space Elevator

I came across another competition that has companies working on tech for a space elevator.  http://www.spaceelevatorgames.org/.  This would be great.  Easy access to space. Safe and quick with low cost.  And not just to space but to orbit and higher.  They have teams working on the elvator which they call Power Beaming at http://www.spaceward.org/elevator2010-ts.  And they have teams working on the tether too.  http://www.spaceelevator.com/ and http://wiki.spaceelevator.com/ are references for people interested in how they are trying to do this.  The main drawback is the tether.  They need a very strong and light weight material that won't destroy it's self from it's own weight.  It will have to be very long, about 60,000 miles.  I am not sure why, but they have their reasons.  They are hoping that eventually Carbon Nanotubes will be the answer to the tether problem.  Until then, it's a great idea.  There are 6 teams competing on the Power Beam:  http://space-elevator.mcgill.ca/, http://www.mclimber.org/, http://www.lasermotive.com/, http://www.kcspacepirates.com/, http://www.usst.ca/, and http://www.nssspaceelevator.org/.  No teams have signed up for the tether competition yet.  The prize is $4 million.  I will be watching this race as well.  It is a bit more mundane then the Space Tourism Race involving spaceships, but, it is vital.  Cheap, reliable, and yes even mundane access to space is key to making access available to everyone.  The last info on the competition was in 2009.  I hope they have a 2010 update soon.

Virgin Galactic Takes the Lead on the New Space Race

I must say, I am fan of Virgin Galactic.  In this article on SPACE.COM Richard Branson spills some of his plans for Virgin Galactic.  http://www.space.com/news/spaceport-america-virgin-galactic-spaceshiptwo-101022.html.

Some very interesting things were in that article.  We all know that December 17, 2010 is scheduled to be the last Space Shuttle launch.  Richard Branson plans to take over for the Space Shuttle.  He stated in this article that he is starting with suborbital launches, then moving up to orbital launches, then finally to contracting with NASA to bring astronauts to the space station.  He is poised to make Virgin Galactic THE LEADER in the Space Commerce Industry.  Contracting with NASA to be their space taxi?  WOW!  This is one man that plans big and knows how to execute his plans.

Space X, however, got the contract with Bigelow Aerospace to transport people to the first hotel in space in 2014.  http://bigelowaerospace.com/  That is one hotel I want to stay at.

Once we get a private company that can take people to a space station things will get a whole lot more interesting.  That opens up trips to the moon, which opens up the prospects of a colony there.  Then the moon could be used as Earths orbit launch site.  The moon is the most likely spot to build larger ships that will take people even farther. 

I imagine mining in space will eventually be the big money maker.  Once materials can be obtained off planet then more space stations and colonies on moons and other planets will be alot easier to build.  Transporting materials off planet is very costly.  Even with the privatization of space commerce it will still be cheaper to use materials that are found off planet.

We all know that private enterprise moves alot faster then the government.  We could feasibly have a moon colony and a Mars colony in 20 years or less.  The only thing left is to find out a way to profit from it all.  Private commerce is money driven.  So, when someone figures out how to make more money from space then tourism provides, we will see space commerce explode.

This is the first step to it all.  There of course will be competition.  That is what free enterprise is about.  Opening up space starts with tourism.  This leads to more research and eventually to living out of this world.  I can't wait.  I am watching this closely.  I want to be part of this new life.  The final frontier is open for business.

The Start of a New Era in Space Travel

Ok. So, I didn't become a Rocket Scientist or Aerospace Engineer like I thought I was going to do when I was a kid.  I love space and the tech behind getting us there.  I watched Star Trek and all of it's offspring, Star Wars, Buck Rogers, Battle Star Glactica, and any other Space oriented Sci Fi movie or TV show I could.  I read alot of Sci Fi books too.  It is what I enjoy.  Now, I will dream out loud, on the net, about space and getting there. 

So much has happened lately that is changing the final frontier into something a lot more like Star Trek.  All those Sci fi movies are in my head when I dream of space, what it's like, and how to get there.  We are a long ways from that.  But, I can see it in the future. 

Can you believe we have companies booking trips to space?  It's amazing.  It's right out of my dreams.  This article http://www.usatoday.com/travel/columnist/mcgee/2010-02-24-space-travel_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip takes a look at the new Space Tourism industry that started with SpaceShipOne winning the Anasari X prize in 2004.  Virgin Galactic baught the contract and now has SpaceShipTwo.  They have already sold $50 Million in advance tickets at $200,000 a pop.  People are excited.

Now there are several companies shooting for the stars.  Here are a few:  http://www.xcor.com/, http://www.spacex.com/F9-001.php, http://www.blueorigin.com/letter.htm, http://www.armadilloaerospace.com/n.x/Armadillo/Home, http://masten-space.com/, http://www.upaerospace.us.com/, http://www.virgingalactic.com/, http://www.spaceadventures.com/.  Boeing is getting involved and selling seats too now: http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2010-09-16-boeing-spaceship_N.htm. 

Wikipedia has a more complete list here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_private_spaceflight_companies.

There is a private company making space stations too: http://bigelowaerospace.com/.  There is even a Government agency to control them all now!  lol http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ast/.

We even have our own Federation: http://www.commercialspaceflight.org/. 

Spaceports are being built in several locations too.  One in New Mexico is called Spaceport America: http://www.spaceportamerica.com/.

The future is here and now.  It's a great time to get involved.  The Space tourism industry is building momentum and will soon launch.  Several companies are rumored to start creating astronauts as early as 2011.  I am waiting anxiously.  There are some big name companies getting involved too, like Boeing and Lockheed Martin.  This lends credibility and money to this venue.  This is the expanding of human horizons and moving us out into the solar system and eventually further.  New technologies develop when there is a need and a demand for them.  And so, I think we will see a lot of next levels tech being developed.  This will stimulate growth in alot of fields as humans start to expierence the rigours of space travel with a much larger cross section of society.  I can't wait to see what happens next!