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The next Orbital:
How the new private space program will turn Buck Rogers into Major Bucks for you!
by Jeff Siegel
Commuter trips from New York to Tokyo...in 45 minutes flat. Or imagine taking your next vacation cruising the depths of outer space...rather than watch Kathy Lee swing her thighs on a cruise to Hawaii. Or how about precious metal mining...on mineral-rich asteroids?
Unbelievable? Sure. But so was the first airplane after Otto Lilienthal plowed his glider into the dirt for the last time...Only 20 years later, his compatriot Manfred "Red Baron" von Richthofen looped the loop above the Western Front.
Or remember the Internet back in '92?
Lost in space
In fact, this time around reality is a lot closer to fantasy than you may think. Just last October, Clinton signed the Commercial Space Act of 1998, streamlining regulations and providing policy to promote a stable business environment for the commercial space industry.
Since then, private space programs have popped up all over the country. New industries like space burials have already been making money for the last couple of years, recruiting customers like Timothy Leary and Star Trek creator Gene Rodenberry to scatter their ashes where no man has gone before.
Intergalactic vacation companies like Zeagraham Space Voyager have been taking reservations at US$96,000 per person for the last two years. The SpaceDev Corporation is planning the first asteroid mining mission for the year 2001. They're also trying to set a precedent for property rights in space by staking a claim to an asteroid.
There's even a company that plans to send modules to the moon to gather lunar rocks for retail sale. Sotheby's recently sold a few grains of soil from a Soviet lunar mission for nearly US$450,000 -- now imagine Ty launching a moon-dust filled Beanie Baby on Furby-plagued parents and their clamoring broods...(The horror, the horror.)
Great expectations
Let us go out on a limb here: We think government-run space programs will soon be a thing of the pet rock -- and with good reason. Free market capitalism is once again proving that it is more effective in providing opportunity and wealth. And with NASA's blessing, private companies and investors are staking their claim to the final frontier.
Right now, one of the most lucrative industries in privatized space is launch systems technology. Before any of these other new space industries can take off, they all have to overcome one major hurdle.
Currently, a typical launch, on average, is about US$5,000 per pound (excluding the cost of insurance). The reason that commercial launches are so expensive is because they still use unreliable, unmanned, and expendable rockets. Each launch vehicle can only be used one time.
Space Odyssey
One of the first to identify the need for cheap access to space is the Rotary Rocket Company. Rotary Rocket has designed a reusable launch vehicle that will soon provide the most inexpensive launch system in the industry.
With lower launch costs, the commercial space market will expand at an amazingly rapid rate, providing an avalanche of new opportunities and potential applications in unexplored markets -- from satellite solar power generation to zero gravity manufacturing to space tourism, ultra high-speed package delivery, and hazardous waste disposal.
Rotary Rocket is planning to offer launch services with a fleet of piloted vehicles called the Roton. The announced initial price for a launch is about US$1,000 per pound. That's 80% cheaper than current methods! They also expect to be able to provide launch-on-demand with minimal delay. In contrast, the current market requires up to a two-year delay.
Pie in the sky
The Roton's reliability is also top-notch. Based on data from the U.S. Navy, the failure rate of unpiloted vehicles is approximately 2,000 times greater than that of piloted aircraft. The reason is that unmanned, computer-controlled flights have no flexibility.
In the case of abort or system failure, an unpiloted craft has no other alternative than self-destruction. And that means heavy losses and liability for both manufacturers and customers. The savings on insurance alone could be in the billions.
Rotary Rocket is hoping to change the space launch marketplace forever through the use of their Roton space vehicle. If they succeed, we could see the arrival of routine, commercial space transportation as early as 2002.
The new race for commercial space exploration is no longer fast approaching -- it's here. And those who follow it closely in its infancy will be able to make some of the biggest profits of the 21st century.
Taipan will be keeping you abreast of new developments. To find out more about this potentially explosive industry, check out ProSpace on the web at: www.prospace.org. Prospace is a lobbying organization that supports and promotes the private space industry. Also, check out Rotary Rocket Company at: www.rotaryrocket.com.
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