In article ,
Derek Lyons wrote:
Or to those who realize that this kind of incremental approach is the
only way to get there, since no one seems willing to cough up the
private R&D money for a fully orbital vehicle from the start.

That's a nice soundbite, but there is nothing incremental involved at
all. Either you can reach and return safely from orbit, or you
cannot...

Derek, you persist in confusing incremental development of vehicles with
incremental development of organizations. The dominant problems for
*private ventures* in reaching orbit are not technical, but financial and
regulatory. Establishing technical credibility, successful experience,
and a regulatory track record is a key *incremental* step toward being
able to attempt an orbital vehicle.

Only if you are the government, or have government sponsorship, are the
technical problems dominant. Only in that case does the *technical*
difference between suborbital and orbital make the former doubtful as
a step toward the latter.

The government-aerospace mindset goes deep, but it is possible to break
out of it, if you try.
--
"Think outside the box -- the box isn't our friend." | Henry Spencer
-- George Herbert |