Military Space Plane vs. Ares 1...which could be operationalfirst?
Derek Lyons wrote:
Nope. They can become the next crew transport, but none of those
boosters have sufficient payload capability to carry a reusable
spacecraft with significant cargo capacity.
Although I'm still at a loss about what exactly the USAF X-37B is
supposed to do, the NASA X-37A variant would have been very useful for
automated microgravity manufacture and return of the things manufactured
to Earth - vaccines, new alloys, microspheres, etc.
There could be a real opening for a profitable commercial venture based
on a vehicle like this, particularly if it could be launched by a
economical booster.
Pat
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