Why hasn't there been any discussion/movement regarding the
development of much greater launch capacity? If you go back
and look at the early Saturn V plans or Russian plans, one
can realize that there were plans of building even larger
rockets than we once had. Its worth keeping in mind that
the lift capacity of the Saturn V or the Energia were ~4-5x
the lift capacity of the Shuttle.
According to my notes -- the launch capacity of the Shuttle into NEO
is ~25,000 kg, the Energia ~105,000 kg, the Saturn V ~118,000 kg.
Robert
Pardon my ignorance, but why hasn't there ever been a true alternative to rockets? It just seems so primitive to put all your goodies on top of a bomb, and shoot it up with brute force, when more elegant solutions may be possible.
Of course, there's the Clark ladder, but that's not likely to ever be done here on Earth, due to financial and security concerns, not to mention the logistics. However, whatever happened to the 'Space Gun' concept? For bulk transport, it seems that it might be possible to use hydrogen aerosol, pumped into a 1/2 mile long tunnel-bore, to shoot payloads up. The cost of such a project would likely be about $3-5 billion, initially, to get a tunnel borer up to a mountain range, and have it bore a single tunnel, with service facilities. After that, costs would be limited to paying staff, and buying hydrogen / oxygen.
Alternatively, how about something like a 'Balloon Assist Rocket', which would lift bulk cargoes up several miles high with a hydrogen gas bag, then use that gas to blast the cargo up with small assist rockets? Who cares if you can only lift a ton at a time, if the costs per pound are significantly less than flashy rocket launches?
-- JHB
