"Danny Deger" wrote in message
...
I stand corrected on this. An expendable SSTO is very feasible. The X-33
had problems in large part because it also was attempting to do an
atmospheric entry. The entry requirement added a lot of mass to the
system.

No, X-33 had problems because it was the most technologically challenging
design out of the three proposals (all three proposals had to deal with
re-entry) *and* there was no real incentive for NASA or the contractor, to
actually make it fly. Note that both the contractor *and* NASA already had
operational launch vehicle programs.

NASA "learned" the wrong lessons from X-33.

Jeff
--
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a
little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor
safety"
- B. Franklin, Bartlett's Familiar Quotations (1919)