Tag

Heavy Lift

All articles tagged with #heavy lift

space-policy2 hours ago•5 min saved

Trump pushes federal land spaceports to hit 1,000 annual launches

Trump’s new national space transportation policy directs NASA and the Pentagon to boost launch and reentry capacity to 1,000+ per year by 2030 by identifying additional federal lands for new spaceports and reentry sites, improving range scheduling and airspace management, and pursuing a third heavy-lift site for resiliency. It also supports expeditionary/rapid-launch concepts and streamlined permitting, with SpaceX expanding Starship pads at Cape Canaveral and Kennedy as part of growing private-sector capacity.

via Ars Technica|

#cape-canaveral #heavy-lift #space-policy

technology3 months ago•8 min saved

Europe Bets on a Winged, Partially Reusable Heavy-Lifter to Rival Starship

DLR researchers propose the RLV C5—a winged, partially reusable European heavy-lift able to place 70+ tonnes in orbit using a SpaceLiner-style booster recovered by aircraft, achieving a payload fraction of about 74%. SpaceX’s Starship, already flying, targets full reusability with ~59 t to orbit today and potential upgrades to ~115 t reusable or ~188 t expendable. The paper frames RLV C5 as an incremental, cost- and risk-efficient path for Europe to gain independent access to super-heavy lift, leveraging existing concepts, while acknowledging Starship’s larger scale and ongoing development. It’s a strategic choice rather than a direct rivalry.

via SciTechDaily|

#dlr #europe #heavy-lift

technology5 months ago•2 min saved

Europe Proposes Winged, Mid-Air-Recovered Heavy-Lift to Rival Starship

European researchers outline the RLV C5, a concept for a fully reusable first-stage derived from the SpaceLiner paired with an expendable upper stage, which would use wings and a carrier aircraft to capture the stage in mid-air and could carry up to 77 tons to orbit—about 74% of its total mass—potentially offering a cheaper, smaller alternative to SpaceX's Starship. The design is still theoretical, and realization would require significant investment and years of development as Europe seeks independent access to space.

via extremetech.com|

#europe-independence #heavy-lift #rlv-c5

space5 months ago•4 min saved

Europe sketches winged RLV C5 as an alternative to Starship

A German Aerospace Center analysis of SpaceX's Starship estimates current fully reusable payload around 59 tonnes to LEO, with next‑gen versions potentially reaching ~115 t reusable or ~188 t expendable. The paper also outlines an European option, the RLV C5, pairing SpaceLiner's winged booster with an expendable upper stage and mid‑air recovery by a large aircraft, delivering about 70 t to orbit with ~74% of its mass going to payload. It’s presented as an intermediate, Europe‑led path rather than a direct competition to Starship, which has real‑world flight history but still faces full reusability engineering challenges.

via Universe Today|

#dlr #heavy-lift #rlv-c5