What will happen if Skylon succeeds?

[MrHappyFace]

Basically what the title says, what do you think will happen to the space launch industry and, generally, the world, IF Skylon succeeds?

Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skylon_%28spacecraft%29

[Mitchz95]

Good things. Space will become more accessible. Launching stuff to orbit will be much cheaper, and hopefully will be done more often thanks to the reusability of the design. I can see them being used to quickly assemble a new space station in orbit, if not a full-fledged interplanetary spacecraft (like Nautilus-X).

There'll probably be some competition with companies with SpaceX, thanks to their reusable rocket designs. But nothing wrong with that.

[softweir]

It will also bring Kessler Syndrome doom a step nearer. Doom I say, DOOOOM!

But yeah, if Skylon works as hoped then it will seriously put the cat amongst the space-launch pigeons. If it doesn't work as well as hoped - like shuttle - then a lot of backers will wake up one morning with a lot less money than they thought they would have.

[SargeRho]

Cheaper and more plentyful access to space, a solution to kessler syndrome, spuring further competition eventually driving prices down to a point where upper middle class people can afford going to the Moon?

[Camacha]

It will also bring Kessler Syndrome doom a step nearer. Doom I say, DOOOOM!

On the other hand, a lot of proposals to clean the space environtment that were just too expensive suddenly become viable. And different than in the sea there is no local wildlife or ecosystem to potentially ruin, so you can scoop up what you encounter. Of course, care needs to be taken not to remove active satellites, but that should be doable.

[Nuke]

cheaper launches means you can afford cleanup missions, or to build salvage stations.

[Guest]

And that you can also afford repair missions. Remember, a lot of space junk could still work if a few parts were replaced, tanks refilled and solar panels cleaned. If it was cheaper to do than launching a new sat, overall satellite service life would increase greatly. The Shuttle was doing such missions, but Skylon could do this much, much better.

[cpast]

And that you can also afford repair missions. Remember, a lot of space junk could still work if a few parts were replaced, tanks refilled and solar panels cleaned. If it was cheaper to do than launching a new sat, overall satellite service life would increase greatly. The Shuttle was doing such missions, but Skylon could do this much, much better.

Skylon is not really designed to take a crew. Repair is difficult without a crew.

[zxczxczbfg]

Speaking of salvage, I imagine a scenario like the anime Planetes or the video game Cargo Commander. A whole industry will be created for cleaning up the crap that people leave in orbit. And it'd be very profitable, too, what with all the non-functioning but materially valuable components up there.

[Nuke]

there is another side of it too: jobs in space. space construction workers, technicians, satellite wreckers, dock workers, etc. an upper middle class person might be able to afford a lunar vacation, but a common joe could still go to space as part of their jerb.

[zxczxczbfg]

Skylon is not really designed to take a crew. Repair is difficult without a crew.

"Using interchangeable payload containers, Skylon could be fitted to carry satellites or fluid cargo into orbit, or, in a specialised habitation module, up to 30 astronauts in a single launch." --Wikipedia

[Mazon Del]

Skylon is not really designed to take a crew. Repair is difficult without a crew.

I'm going to need a source on that.

My understanding is that the Skylon is intended to be a manned craft with a modular "mission bay" that can either be people, cargo, or a mix.

[Duxwing]

If we could fit an Alcubierre drive to it, then we would have a true spaceship!

-Duxwing

[Wallace]

Skylon is not really designed to take a crew. Repair is difficult without a crew.

Well, that's true, but you can be sure that if Skylon is successful then there will be more of the same kind of thing, everyone will be having a go at making their own Skylon-style launcher and it may be a while but there will certainly be manned craft of that type.

[cpast]

I'm going to need a source on that.

My understanding is that the Skylon is intended to be a manned craft with a modular "mission bay" that can either be people, cargo, or a mix.

Skylon is designed to be *unmanned* (source: Reaction Engines, with "SKYLON is an unpiloted, reusable spaceplane intended to provide reliable, responsive and cost effective access to space."). While it could carry passengers, they wouldn't necessarily be able to control the craft - it's not designed for manned control. Repair missions have only ever been done by a craft under manned control, with people *in addition* to a payload bay, a robotic arm, etc.

[Camacha]

Speaking of salvage, I imagine a scenario like the anime Planetes or the video game Cargo Commander. A whole industry will be created for cleaning up the crap that people leave in orbit. And it'd be very profitable, too, what with all the non-functioning but materially valuable components up there.

I can imagine a treaty where countries or companies that launch objects into space have to contribute to a fund, from which general clean up is paid. Though some countries will ignore this, just like some countries ignore environmental treaties (even when signed).

[Mazon Del]

Skylon is designed to be *unmanned* (source: Reaction Engines, with "SKYLON is an unpiloted, reusable spaceplane intended to provide reliable, responsive and cost effective access to space."). While it could carry passengers, they wouldn't necessarily be able to control the craft - it's not designed for manned control. Repair missions have only ever been done by a craft under manned control, with people *in addition* to a payload bay, a robotic arm, etc.

Fair enough, but just because they have never flown a repair mission without the ability to control the craft from on board doesn't mean they cannot start. I am sure if they wanted they could rig up the payload area to also have a robotic arm and parts in addition to the crew.

[CaptRobau]

Skylon is designed to be *unmanned* (source: Reaction Engines, with "SKYLON is an unpiloted, reusable spaceplane intended to provide reliable, responsive and cost effective access to space."). While it could carry passengers, they wouldn't necessarily be able to control the craft - it's not designed for manned control. Repair missions have only ever been done by a craft under manned control, with people *in addition* to a payload bay, a robotic arm, etc.

The Skylon is designed to deliver other spacecraft into space. It'd start with satellites (with or without a small stage to get it to the Moon or Geosynchronous Orbit), but later on they could move on to manned craft that would be suited for operating in just the vacuum of space. That spacecraft would be rendezvous with the to be repaired object and later return to the Skylon. Also you don't need a payload bay. Hubble wasn't put back in the payload bay, just docked with and the personnel moved to it by robotic arm.

[Jon Tash]

If Skylon succeeds I hope that others Space Agencies get in the bandwagon and build Skylon-like spacecraft also with more capabilities.

(I need to stop drooling over the image I got in my head about a fleet of Skylons flying in the sky all over the world.)

[sojourner]

If Skylon succeeds I hope someone revives PanAm and slaps the logo/livery on one so we can finally get that scene from 2001 in real life.

[SargeRho]

I kinda hope it inspires Lockeed Martin to resume work on the X-33/Venture Star.

[Mitchz95]

One thing I noticed on the Wikipedia page that's kind of disappoining: the design assumes the cargo bay will be mostly empty during landing. So that would seem to rule out returning much stuff to Earth.

[cpast]

One thing I noticed on the Wikipedia page that's kind of disappoining: the design assumes the cargo bay will be mostly empty during landing. So that would seem to rule out returning much stuff to Earth.

I'm not sure I see that; keep in mind, the vast majority of the 275 ton max takeoff weight is fuel.

[Moar Boosters]

One thing I noticed on the Wikipedia page that's kind of disappoining: the design assumes the cargo bay will be mostly empty during landing. So that would seem to rule out returning much stuff to Earth.

Rendezvousing with orbital debris in an extremely fragile and expensive spaceplane isn't realistically ever going to be considered a good risk/reward mission. Technically it was possible with the shuttle, and was mooted as a possible mission during the development phase, but it never came to fruition. Recovering intact satellites is usually even more risky. The most common thing that breaks is the moving parts in the reaction wheels, so once these break the satellite will start spinning randomly and become impossible to retrieve.

There are lots of systems for de-orbiting or boosting things into graveyard orbit which could be deployed by skylon, but even if it's built exactly to it's proposed specs, it's not going to be suitable for salvage missions.

[jwenting]

if Skylon succeeds there will be all kind of government regulations that make it illegal to use it without paying so many taxes, fees, and liability insurance that it's more expensive than current rockets to get things into space.