GreenWolf

This may have been asked before, as I only skimmed through the thread before posting, so apologies if this is a repeat of a previous question. How would I go about adding my own propellant? And then how would I go about making a custom engine that runs off that propellant and electricity?

The ability to deorbit the core after deploying the payload is very nice. It will go a long way to reducing the amount of space junk in my space program.

As has been said before, I won't miss the shuttle program, but the shuttle itself was pretty cool looking. Space travel is really in the hands of the private sector now, and that is a good thing. Look at SpaceX, they've managed to accomplish every goal they've set for themselves, and I have high hopes for their future endeavors. And then there's Ad Astra Rocket Company run by a former astronaut who have developed a working ion engine (look up VASIMR for more details). And while we wait for NASA to make a vehicle capable of getting to space, we still have Soyuz, which has an incredibley high safety record, especially when compared to say, a space shuttle. It's also interesting to note that NASA's current budget is almost 10% of what it's budget was during the Apollo era, yet the government wants them to send people to Mars by 2030. At the current rate their going, NASA might not have even gotten back to the Moon by then, and SpaceX will be exploring the Jovian system.