Kryten

There was an ESA concept for a capsule on Ariane that would use an LES under a special quick-release fairing. SNC probably aren't doing that with DC, but it is possible.

http://afspacemuseum.org/displays/HeatsinkNoseCone/

Only a few early missile warheads used capsule-esque 'blunt body' designs-they're vulnerable to interception because they come down so slowly, and they're particularly visible to radar. Even scud warheads come in 'pointy end down'.

It's a niobium-based alloy, so it's still going to be pretty expensive. Not so much from raw materials cost, but from manufacturing costs.

Ejection seats would also have been used if they ended up re-entering over land, given absence of any kind of shock cushioning features on gemini.

Their early FSW sats used oak impregnated with an ablative treatment. Not very efficient in terms of mass, but it worked.

I'm pretty sure the flights with dogs didn't involve ejection, and they turned out fine. Most likely it would just be a very unpleasant landing like Soyuz 5, not a fatal one.

There's no way this is happening. Sorry to be so pessimistic about it, but the last however many years or ARCA activities leaves no other plausible option.

If you take out crewed spaceflight and associated support stuff, my gut feeling is it won't average more than a couple tons. I'll have a look through last year's launches and tot something up when I've got time.

That's not how launch subsidies generally work. Usually it's a subsidy that applies to all launches (to get increased launch rate) or to the pad work and maintenance; which means all customers benefit, commercial or otherwise. This was the case with Delta II, and is the case for Ariane. PSLV in particular doesn't have subsidies, it just has at-cost launches for gov. customers and for-profit launches for commercial ones. ISRO cost and pricing has come up repeatedly in Indian parliament Q and A, which has ended up with it being the most open pricing of any current launch provider; the figures have been collated here. NB: that $15 million is either made up or very old, it's below cost for even the cheapest PSLV variant.

Most of the numbers are dodgy. According to that Soyuz FG can't lift the Soyuz spacecraft, and Ariane can't lift ATV.

Payload attach fitting. Can be part of the fairing system (and is on F9), but not always.

They need a standard PAF on the front to count for USAF cert.

None of the US modules were capable of maneuvering in space or attaching autonomously.

The plan for is to deorbit it into the south Pacific using a pair of Progress' or one of the new Russian TGK PGcargo vehicles. Some bits will probably come down intact, but you'll have a hard time finding and recovering them.

And this the spacecraft itself will need checks and maintenance.

It's not a SpaceX system, it's an air force system. The first gen was flying in shadow mode on some of Orbital's rockets around the time SpaceX was founded. It's been a long time coming.

There are entire orbital rockets that are less than 4.5 tonnes; it's not ultimately that hard in terms of total energy or impulse. You only have a hard distinction between 'orbital class' and 'suborbital class' if you're talking small rockets, up to maybe two tons.

So when I'm in here in three years or so saying F9 barely counts as reusable because it's not in the same class as NG, you'll be fine with it?

But that's still more than enough energy to be 'orbital class'. Heck, NS is in the same size class as, and likely has more total impulse than Falcon 1. If SX had recovered one of them, would you be here saying that didn't count?

A returning falcon 9 won't receive much more heating in practice than what NS receives, because of the entry burn. Otherwise falcon would need a complete TPS covering, rather than a coating in a few areas like NS has.

Grasshopper never got above a kilometre altitude.

Shuttle contained the fuel tanks and engines for orbital insertion, so even by your definition it was a reused stage.

Not likely. There's a Delta and an Atlas from the cape after the next falcon, and they're all jostling for position.

There's no boat out there for this attempt, so they couldn't get the signal out.