New players in the space race
Until recently, sending cargo or people into Earth’s orbit was a task reserved for a handful of government agencies and contractors, but a new breed of entrepreneurs wants to make getting into space a much easier proposition. Some of these new companies are not only engaged in making space tourism a viable business but are also setting ambitious, long-term objectives, such as going to Mars.
To higher orbit and interplanetary missions
203 miles
Mission profile
220 miles
Yuri Gagarin’s first orbital flight (1961)
Future mission profile
International space station
Historic missions
176 miles Mercury program maximum altitude orbit (1961-1963)
116 miles Alan Shepard’s first suborbital flight (1961)
62 miles
68 miles
Karman line: traditional boundary between atmosphere and space
61 miles
23 miles Weather balloons
7 miles Airliners’ cruising altitude
Falcon
Falcon heavy
Dream Chaser 30 ft.
Antares
Pegasus
224 ft.
Atlas V
SpaceShipTwo
New Shepard
133 ft. 60 ft.
SpaceX
Existing hardware In development
Orbital Transportation System
Orbital
Virgin Galactic
385 ft.
Lynx
Human to scale
28 ft.
Sierra Nevada Dream Chaser capsule
Blue Origin
XCOR
Stratolaunch
Biconic space vehicle Lynx
Dragon capsule
Founded in 2002 by Elon Musk, SpaceX is a titan among the start-up space companies, in large measure because of NASA subsidies and contracts. It has grown to 3,000 employees and has developed a rocket, the Falcon 9, and a capsule called Dragon. SpaceX has sent the unmanned Dragon to the international space station to deliver cargo three times. The company hopes to win a NASA contract to send astronauts to the space station. The Falcon 9 is a two-stage rocket capable of putting a payload of 10,692 pounds into orbit. SpaceX plans to strap three Falcon 9 cores together to create the Falcon Heavy, a rocket that could potentially launch payloads to Mars. Status: Launch system and cargo capsule in service. Human transport to orbit several years away.
Pegasus SpaceShipTwo Multi-stage booster White Knight
The Dulles, Va.-based company specializes in the manufacturing and launch of satellites. It has expanded its operations with new rockets such as the Antares, a two-stage vehicle capable of putting heavy payloads into orbit. This fall, Orbital successfully sent a pressurized cargo capsule called Cygnus to the ISS, and has a NASA contract for more cargo missions. The company also has an air-launched system called Pegasus. This two-stage rocket is transported by a modified Lockheed L0-1011 airliner to an altitude of 40,000 feet. The rocket is then ignited to reach orbit.
In December 2007, Richard Branson’s company unveiled SpaceShipTwo, a bigger version of the vehicle that, in 2004, became the first private craft to perform a suborbital flight. The company hopes to begin tourist flights with the new ship in 2014. Under Virgin’s plan, a carrier airplane takes the spaceship to an altitude of 50,000 feet. Then the spaceship fires its rocket engine, reaching 2,500 mph in seconds and climbing to 68 miles. For $250,000 per seat, passengers are promised six minutes of weightlessness and views of Earth’s curvature from the edge of space. The ship then glides back to the spaceport.
Dream Chaser is a reusable winged spacecraft designed to carry from two to seven people and cargo to orbit, including to the international space station. Initially, Dream Chaser is designed to be launched on an Atlas V 402 rocket, but it can use any other launch vehicle. Like NASA’s retired space shuttle system, Dream Chaser will be able to return from space by gliding and landing on any airport runway that handles commercial air traffic. An ablative tile created by NASA would protect the spaceship during atmospheric entry. Sierra Nevada plans to build a fleet of Dream Chasers.
The company is developing both orbital and suborbital spacecraft with an emphasis on reusability, safety and low cost. The New Shepard system is composed of two flight vehicles: a crew capsule for carrying three or more passengers and a rocket module. Both vehicles will be recovered and reused.
Status: In service.
Status: Under development. Flight tests. Has not yet flown in space.
Status: Under development. Flight tests. Has not yet flown in space.
Status: Under development. Flight tests. Has not yet flown in space.
Sources: NASA, SpaceX, Virgin Galactic, Sierra Nevada, Orbital Systems, Blue Origin, XCOR, Stratolaunch Systems
The Lynx is a two-seat, piloted space transport vehicle that will take humans and payloads on a half-hour suborbital flight, eventually to the edge of space – and then return safely to land at the takeoff runway. Like an aircraft, the Lynx is a horizontal takeoff and landing vehicle, but instead of a jet or piston engine, Lynx uses its own fully reusable rocket propulsion system. With a thermal protection system on the nose and leading edges, it is able to handle the heat of re-entry from the edge of space. The wing area is sized for landing at moderate speeds. Lynx is 28 feet in length with a wing that spans about 24 feet. Status: Under development.
Carrier aircraft
A space transportation system based on two elements: a carrier airplane and an orbital launch vehicle. The first one is an aircraft with a 385-foot wingspan.
Status: Unclear
ALBERTO CUADRA /THE WASHINGTON POST