Private Spacecraft Developer Settles on New Design

Plans for the privatization, or at least, private participation in space are procedign apace, as has been noted by the Chief a number of times in the past. This plan seems to be a bit more conventional than some, but is aiming from the start at full orbital capability.

A private space firm with orbital aspirations has revamped its plans for a crew-carrying spacecraft. Poway, California-based aerospace firm SpaceDev has a new design for its Dream Chaser vehicle and hopes to offer suborbital rides within two years, with orbital flights to follow.

An artist’s interpretation of SpaceDev’s Dream Chaser vehicle after spacecraft separation. Credit: SpaceDev. Click to enlarge.

SpaceDev is also planning on a lunar mission – using the Dreamcatcher as par of the prep.

If you’re interested in space development, as the Chief certainly is, this is an outfit that bears watching at least as much as the nest of projects associated with Rutan’s Scaled Compoosites like the Rocket Racing League, and Virgin Galactic‘s Spaceship 2 suborbital plans, and other efforts like the DOOM/DOOM II/DOOM III computer game designer JOhn Carmack’s Armadillo Aerospace, and Kansas’ Rocketplane, Inc.

All of this together is an exciting mix, and is moving towards getting us SERIOUSLY off the planet, into space to stay.

Now the rest is up to us, and there’s a future to be won:
We must turn our faces outward, we will do what must be done.
For no cradle lasts forever, every bird must learn to fly.
Yes we’re going to the stars, see our fire in the sky!
Fire in the Sky (Kristoph Klover), Prometheus Music – available here as a legal mp3 download. The Chief HIGHLY recommends this!