Next-Generation launch technologies achievable with CURRENT technology

[Rakaydos]

There is no inherent reason that a government project should be more expensive than a private enterprise. All things being equal it should to could be less expensive considering it doesn't have to turn a profit. That a government project is usually more expensive is due to, as you mention, shortsighted local political "appeasement", inefficient management including salary negotiation and what not, but I digress... This is off topic.

It's a matter of priorities. A corporation wants to make money, so it pays attention to money. A goverment wants to stay in power, so it pays attention to power blocks and things like in-state jobs. Not saying one cannot be just as good as the other... but they usually arnt. and the Shuttle -definately- wasnt.

[Bill Phil]

What killed the shuttle wasn't reusability. It was the lack of the other components to the Space Transportation System. Space stations, tugs, and even nuclear powered space tugs were planned.

[Northstar1989]

Yeah, that was used in the SSME/RS-25 engines.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bc/Ssme_schematic.svg/1000px-Ssme_schematic.svg.png

That's incorrect. The SSME did NOT use Full Flow Stage Combustion- just Staged Combustion (which, although this is *not* the proper name for it, you might call "Partial Flow Staged Combustion"), although they *were* the best-performing Staged Combustion engines ever built until that point.

See the Wikipedia article on Staged Combustion for more explanation. Full Flow Staged Combustion is a more advanced variant of Staged Combustion that has never been used beyond the test stand before.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staged_combustion_cycle#Full-flow_staged_combustion_cycle

FFSC has *numerous* advantages over regular Staged Combustion, including lower operating mechanical stresses (allow for EITHER greater engine longevity/reusability OR better performance by increasing chamber pressures or decreasing engine mass), greater safety (it eliminates some key parts that can fail), and lower turbopump operating temperatures

Regards,

Northstar

Edited January 16, 2015 by Northstar1989