2013-05-24T22:16:19-07:00 http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/ Lussumo Vanilla & Feed Publisher http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8955&Focus=261425#Comment_261425 2010-09-21T12:01:29-07:00 2013-05-24T22:16:19-07:00 roadscum http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=7712

This lot are. It's called Skylon and basically it's bloody great unmanned ramjet rocket capable of lifting a 12 Tonne (or 15 according to the BBC) payload into geostationary orbit. Reusable, ...

It's called Skylon and basically it's bloody great unmanned ramjet rocket capable of lifting a 12 Tonne (or 15 according to the BBC) payload into geostationary orbit. Reusable, inexpensive, sleek and most importantly, black, i can see this being the ideal vehicle to launch Mr Ellis' orbital deathray, should it ever get off the ground (Skylon, not the deathray, Mr Ellis has that ready on a pallet in his garage, waiting for a lift). Sort of 'son of HOTOL', if anyone here remembers that particular design concept failure.

I'm quietly hoping this one works out despite being British and independent, therefore doomed to failure.]]> http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=8955&Focus=261513#Comment_261513 2010-09-22T01:12:51-07:00 2013-05-24T22:16:19-07:00 Zeppelin http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/account.php?u=9341

I wonder, is it somehow part of the British DNA to dream big, then realize they're British and not, say, American, and shelve the whole thing? That said, I want one of those! Not sure what I'd use ...

That said, I want one of those! Not sure what I'd use if for (other than lord it over my neighbors. "So what if you've got a BMW, check out my ride bitch.") but one can always worry about that later. Yet with an estimated R&D budget of 10 billion US$ and only a million pounds in so far, I can't help but see this added to the HOTOL history of failures ride. Call me a pessimist, but with British reaction to space travel being pretty much a shrug and a laugh, I still think we're going to have to rely on the Chinese to eventually bring us something novel and interesting for space travel and cargo.]]>