Suppressed Evolution Leads to Revolution.

A truly commercial space industry is now in sight. The Managing Director of Bristol Spaceplanes Limited has been involved with spaceplane design since 1961, and the company has a low-cost, low-risk strategy for spaceplane development intended to catch up rapidly with what might have been.

Evolutionary Strategy

Bristol Spaceplanes believes that the way to a credible, viable launch vehicle is through progressive development, using tried and tested technology to build real operational experience. The difficulties of building an orbital vehicle using new and untested technologies has been ably demonstrated by the failures of the X-33 and X-34 programmes, but a suborbital spaceplane is an order of magnitude simpler to design and can be operated at a profit.

• Ascender is a small sub-orbital spaceplane intended for use as a reusable sounding rocket and for carrying passengers on space experience flights.

• Spacecab is an enlarged and refined Ascender air launched from a supersonic carrier aeroplane. It uses proven materials and existing engines. It is designed to launch small satellites, transport supplies and crew to space stations, and to pioneer orbital space tourism.

• Spacebus is and enlarged and mature development of Spacecab, which should have a cost per person to orbit of around $10,000. This could be achieved in about fifteen years.