In article ,
Fred J. McCall wrote:
:Only because there's little demand for it from the traditional
roviders of launch system development funds.

Largely because they don't believe it can be done and don't want to
fund yet more development of another system that doesn't hit the
target (again).

And if you do it the way *they* traditionally do it, it probably can't be
done and it probably wouldn't hit the target. This doesn't mean it's
impossible, only that *they* can't do it.

Yes, there are people who will tell you that it *is* impossible. These
are people to whom it is unthinkable that the emperor is really standing
there with no clothes on. He just *can't* be naked, therefore he isn't.

Why would commercial users (in particular) stick with a higher-cost
system, all other things being equal?

Think it through. Today's commercial launch customers are people whose
business case closes even with today's high costs.

That being so, they are not really all that interested in lower costs.
They will take a cheaper ride if it comes along, yes, but they are not
interested in taking risks to help it happen.
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