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An ultralight approach to orbital space tourism

04.17.06

In an article in this week’s issue of The Space Review, Richard Speck of Micro-Space Inc. proposed a radical approach to human orbital spaceflight: to keep launch costs low, make the spacecraft as simple and as lightweight as possible. He proposes a spacecraft that is little more than a spacesuited astronaut strapped into a heat shield and thruster system, enough to get into orbit, maneuver to a space station, and then reenter and parachute to a landing. Speck goes through the technical details with such an approach, which could allow people to fly for just a few million dollars even at today’s relatively high launch costs.

Categories: Orbital, Technology

posted by Jeff Foust on 04.17.06 @ 7:09 am

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