SEARCH
Advanced Search
WHAT'S NEW
29 July 2012
Added "Space Debris and Its Mitigation" to the archive.
16 July 2012
Space Future has been on something of a hiatus of late. With the concept of Space Tourism steadily increasing in acceptance, and the advances of commercial space, much of our purpose could be said to be achieved. But this industry is still nascent, and there's much to do. So...watch this space.
9 December 2010
Updated "What the Growth of a Space Tourism Industry Could Contribute to Employment, Economic Growth, Environmental Protection, Education, Culture and World Peace" to the 2009 revision.
7 December 2008
"What the Growth of a Space Tourism Industry Could Contribute to Employment, Economic Growth, Environmental Protection, Education, Culture and World Peace" is now the top entry on Space Future's Key Documents list.
30 November 2008
Added Lynx to the Vehicle Designs page.
More What's New Subscribe Updates by Email
MAILING LISTS

To receive announcements and news of updates by email, subscribe to the sf-announce mailing list.

Join the sf-discuss mailing list to ask questions and talk about space tourism, vehicles, power, and habitats.

More Info Mailing Lists
ARCHIVE

There are currently 222 documents in the archive.

Bibliography Archives List Library Listing

RSS FEEDS

Subscribe to site news and journal updates:

SFJ Top Stories
More Articles
KEY DOCUMENTS

Here are some key documents from the archive to get you started:


More Documents Archives
Glossary of Terms
Acronyms and jargon terms explained
Click on the terms in the left-hand column for a detailed description
and links to related information.
Two stage mixed-mode launch vehicle with multiple lower stage configurations; the CX-1A is the upper orbital stage
Aviation Prize for development of an orbital RLV
Advanced large scale space tourism vehicle proposed by CFFC
Prize offered for the first privately financed reusable vehicle
Eurpoean expendable launcher built by Arianespace
High altitude sub-orbital demonstrator designed to carry passengers to the edge of space from Bristol Spaceplanes
Suborbital HTOL spaceplane design from EADS Astrium
VTHL suborbital space tourism vehicle from Benson Space Company.
Early 1970s design for a VTOL SSTO
Suborbital VTOL X-Prize contender
"One-and-a-half stage to orbit" spaceplane using inflight refueling
Sea launched sub-orbital passenger carrying rocket
Second-stage orbital capsule proposal from t/Space, designed to take crew to and from the ISS and other orbital facilities.
A short stay LEO vehicle capable of carrying 9 people or 2 tonnes of payload, proposed by CFFC
Canadian X-Prize contender inspired by the V2 rocket
A NASA initiative to provide orbital services to the ISS via private industry. Vehicles developed under the COTS initiative includes SpaceX's Dragon and Falcon 9. COTS is managed by the Commercial Crew/Cargo Program Office, or C3PO (yes, really).
Russian TSTO sub-orbital space tourism vehicle
HTOL spaceplane entered for the X-Prize
An experimental reusable VTOL demonstrator rocket vehicle
Canadian VTOL X-Prize contender
Orbital crew and cargo carrier designed for transporting people and payloads to and from orbit (and specifically, th>e ISS), launched by the Falcon 9 ELV.
Suborbital spaceplane proposal from SpaceDev/ Benson Space Company, succeeded by the BSC Spaceship.
Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle
Expendable Launch Vehicle
External Tank
Low-altitude rocketplane demonstrator successfully built and demonstrated by XCOR. See also Xerus and Lynx
A two-stage expendable launch vehicle ( ELV) design from SpaceX, Falcon 1 become the first privately funded space vehicle to achieve orbit on the 28th of September 2008. A larger version, the Falcon 9, is the launch vehicle for the Dragon spacecraft.
An Expendable Launch Vehicle design from SpaceX, Falcon 9 is a larger version of the Falcon 1 ELV desgined to deliver payloads to orbit including the optionally manned Dragon spacecraft.
Geostationary Earth Orbit
Space station design based on a Space Shuttle External Tank
Gross Lift-Off Weight
Geosynchronous Earth Orbit
Inflatable space station demonstator module
Larger follow-on to the Genesis I.
Demonstrator vehicle developed by Blue Origin, named for rocket pioneer Robert Goddard
"Mobile Suit Gundam", popular space-based Japanese animation/manga series
Horizontal Take-Off and Landing
Ill-fated revolutionary British spaceplane
Internationally designed and operated space station
British project to commercially fund a flight to Mir
Passenger VTOL SSTO transport by the JRS
A spaceplane design using a towing craft to reduce fuel requirements
2STO satellite launcher
A suborbital resuable vehicle taking three people, 1 pilot and two passengers, proposed by CFFC
Low Earth Orbit
Liquid Hydrogen
Liquefied Natural Gas
Liquid Oxygen
Two-stage passenger-carrying suborbital spaceplane proposed by XCOR, follow-on to Xerus.
Modular single-stage reusable sub-orbital rocket
The Russian space station, formerly owned by Energia and briefly operated by MirCorp
Passenger-carrying VTOL being developed by Blue Origin
Scaled down interim version of Thunderbird carrying a single person
Spaceplane using inflight refueling to achieve orbit based on Black Horse
A VTOL SSTO launch vehicle that inspired many others, including ROTON
Rocket Demonstrator
Air-breathing first stage booster
Multifunction first stage atmospheric vehicle for either satellite launches or space tourism. White Knight is derived from the Proteus design.
Rocket Assisted Take-Off
Reusable Launch Vehicle
Revolutionary design for a VTOL SSTO helicopter from Rotary Rocket, now defunct
RECTifying anTENNA; rectifies received microwaves into DC current
Saturn Applications Single Stage To Orbit
Solar Power Satellite
An SPS pilot plant project
Space Shuttle Main Engine
Single Stage Rocket Technology
Single Stage To Orbit
Space Ship eXperimental, an early reusable VTOL design
German two-stage spaceplane design
Spaceplane successor to HOTOL
Two-stage sub-orbital spaceplane designed for tourism
Passenger carrying spaceplane design from Space Tour
A revised traffic management system proposed by the FAA in 1999 to account for the integration of space vehicles with existing atmospheric traffic.
Suborbital VTOL spaceplane
A sub-orbital winged rocket demonstator
Upper suborbital stage launched from underneath the White Knight high altitude carrier aircraft
Orbital follow-on to the suborbital SpaceShipOne.
British designed 2STO spaceplane
Scaled down intermediate version of the Spacebus
Commerical Spaceport project based near Las Cruces, New Mexico.
Space Conductor
Fully reusable VTOHL first stage booster for 2STO orbiters
Reusable HTOL SSTO launch vehicle
Two Stages To Orbit
British sub-orbital VTOL SSTO rocket carrying 1 pilot and 2 crew/passengers
Vertical Take-Off Horizontal Landing
Vertical Take-Off and Landing
Cancelled commercial VTHL craft based on the also cancelled X-33
Wireless Power Transmission
High altitude booster stage for the suborbital SpaceShipOne, derived from Proteus
Annual racing contest, follow-up to the X Prize.
Cancelled VTHL demonstrator developed by Lockheed for NASA
Cancelled HTOL rocket technology demonstrator originally designed to reach Mach 8
Suborbital VTOL RLV designed for scientific and educational payloads.
Two-stage passenger-carrying suborbital spaceplane proposed by XCOR, succeeded by Lynx.
Ukrainian rocket, the propulsion system for the fly-back VTHL first stage of the Star Booster.
 
Please send comments, critiques and queries to feedback@spacefuture.com.
All material copyright Space Future Consulting except as noted.