Space Access Update is Space Access Society's when-there's-news publication. Space Access Society's goal is to promote affordable access to space for all, period. We believe in concentrating our limited resources at whatever point looks like yielding maximum progress toward this goal.
Right now, we think this means working our tails off trying to get the government to build and fly a high-speed reusable rocket demonstrator, an "X-rocket", in the next three years, in order to quickly build up both experience with and confidence in reusable Single-Stage To Orbit (SSTO) technology. The idea is to reduce SSTO development cost while at the same time increasing investor confidence, to the point where SSTO will make sense as a private commercial investment. We have reason to believe we're not far from that point now.
One major current focus is on supporting the Department of Defense's Single Stage Rocket Technology (SSRT) program, DC-X and its funded (but so far stalled) followon, SX-2. We're also working on getting a healthy X-rocket development going at NASA, and on getting work underway there on suitable engines for the fully reusable orbital transports that should come after SX-2 and NASA's X-rocket.
With luck and hard work, we should see fully reusable SSTO testbeds flying to orbit toward the end of this decade, with production ships a-building shortly thereafter. Join us and help us make this happen.
Henry Vanderbilt, Editor, Space Access Update
[For more info on Space Access Society or on the new DC-X/SSTO video we have for sale (first batch now shipped!) including footage from all five flights to date, DC-X and SSTO backgrounders, plus a White Sands Missile Range travelogue, email: hvanderbilt@bix.com, or write us at: SAS, 4855 E Warner Rd #24-150, Phoenix AZ 85044.
Congress is currently in recess, mostly back in their home districts getting back in touch with the voters and gearing up for this fall's campaign. They'll be back in session for the first two days of next week, but then they're off again until Monday the 19th.
The latest word from DC is that the all-important (to SX-2, at any rate) Defence Appropriations Bill House-Senate conference committee won't meet until Monday the 19th at the earliest. There's no guarantee the conference won't be delayed well beyond that, of course -- there's a lot of other things on Congress's plate this fall.
This conference is vital to the future of the SX-2 because the compromise DOD Appropriations bill that emerges will be the final word on funding and conditions for such DOD research projects. If we get SX-2 funding, in the right place, under conditions that (unlike last year) actually allow the project to get underway, SSTO will start moving forward again, fast. If not, we face another year of low-progress slogging.
See the "SAS Action Recommendations" section for what you can do to improve the odds.
There's not much news here, really. DC-X is still back at the plant in Huntington Beach. Its condition has been thoroughly checked out, and there's no reason to believe the repairs can't be done in time for resumed flight test late this fall, if funding comes through. Another reason to check out the "SAS Action Recommendations" section.
The plan is still to replace about half of the middle section of the aeroshell. About the only new info we have is that they now believe they can repair the two-inch crack in the liquid hydrogen tank from the outside, making the job considerably easier than if they had to open the tank up.
Hey, they're talking about us here! All of us "outspoken SSTO advocates", that is. "Sniping" aside (we prefer to think of what we do as constructive criticism) this is a pretty accurate capsule of the situation.
From AvWeek 8/29/94 page 21 "Washington Outlook" section:
"Testy Summit?"
"A summit meeting on single-stage-to-orbit rocket efforts will be held here Sept. 14 and NASA chief Daniel S. Goldin is likely to have his hands full. He likes to 'build consensus', but he will be dealing with outspoken SSTO advocates who keep sniping at the space agency's new role. Fans of the Defense Dept.'s successful DC-X program are worried that NASA will fritter away $1 billion through 1999, fiddling with new SSTO technologies on the ground but flying very little. Advocates argue that NASA is already too conservative, because it wants to allow for 30% growth in vehicle weight. On that assumption, NASA regards a tricky tripropellant engine as a must. Many SSTO enthusiasts want to put the emphasis on flying a DC-X followon, called SX-2, as soon as possible. They believe that would solve many of the technical riddles that lead more cautious engineers to believe an orbital vehicle will prove to be heavier than the optimists think."
While we're on the subject, it seems a little gentle deflation aimed at the Roundtable's hosts last Update has had more read into it than was actually said. NSS so far seems to be handling a very difficult job professionally and impartially, and we once again want to thank them in advance for their hard work and hospitality. Relax, guys, it'll all be over in a few days.
And on another Roundtable related matter, excuse us while we editorialize for a bit.
We keep hearing stories that a lot of the "usual suspects" are maneuvering to capture big chunks of the new NASA reusable launcher reseach budget for projects that, while nominally reusable, frankly miss the point.
As far as SAS is concerned, the object of the exercise should be to enable private industry to fund, develop, and fly reusable space transports that will radically reduce the cost of space access.
By "radically reduce", we do not mean 25%. We do not mean even a factor of two or three cost reduction. Pursuing such timid approaches is a sure-fire way to continue the current massive launch bureaucracies on a slightly cheaper basis. Sorry guys, but that isn't the object of the exercise.
"Radically reduce" means by a factor of ten just for starters, with potential for an additional order of magnitude drop in cost per flight as traffic ramps up. The idea is to totally change the rules of the space game, to open up space as a new frontier in a big way in less than a generation.
A pipe dream? Maybe, maybe not. We know the characteristics of the ships that could do this. They need to be:
We looked at all this long and hard back in 1988 and concluded that multi- engine rocket SSTO was the best near-term bet to fit this bill. Not only do we see no reason to change our minds now, we see that rocket SSTO now has a large lead on all other contenders, due tothe successful DC-X program.
Some other more elegant solution may well displace fast-turnaround rocket SSTO a generation or two hence. But rocket SSTO will suffice to make this generation the one remembered as the true start of the space age. "Better is the enemy of good enough."
Meanwhile, partially-reusable rebuild-between-flights launchers are an idea whose time never really came. Congress is not going to fund them. Let them rest.
[This is largely a repeat from the last two issues, but we're repeating ourselves for good reasons. One, this is the second of two vitally important Congressional SSTO decisions this year. (The first was the "rescission" fight last spring when we narrowly avoided a giveback of the $40 million DC-X/SX-2 money we won a year ago.) Two, we actually had plenty of advance notice this time. We're learning.]
It's time for a maximum-effort push. We have ten days until the Congress is back in session on September 19th; the DOD Appropriations conference could happen any time after that. Effort in the interim isn't wasted either; the staffers are already doing a lot of the work of the conference in advance.
We need to persuade the DOD Appropriations conferees to do three things:
During much of the next ten days, the key Senators and Representatives will be back in their home states and districts. Congress will be in session for Monday and Tuesday of the coming week, September 12th and 13th. Much of the rest of the time, they'll be back home, and the best way to contact them is via their local offices.
Contact: Any Representative on the list whose district you live in or very near to. Any Senator on the list from your state. Senator Inouye, the SAC Defense chair. Senator Stevens, the top ranking Republican. Senator Byrd, the chair of the full SAC. Contact these last three at their DC offices, unless you're from their state.
Look up the local offices in your local phone book "blue pages" governent listings section, under "US Government" -- "Senators", "Congress", or "Representatives", and get in touch. Give them a call, ask for a fax number, tell them what you support over the phone (as described below) or just drop by in person, say hi, and tell them that in the upcoming DOD Appropriations conference, you support full funding and immediate go-ahead for the SX-2 reusable rocket. As in phoning, don't bother them with the details unless they ask. If they do, then answer their questions as best you can. If you can, bring along a one-page letter plus a printout of the suggested funding language (from the end of this Update) to hand them once you're done talking.
You never know. If you drop in, you might actually get to meet your Senator or Representative if they happen to be in the office. Keep such visits brief and polite, and keep focussed on the issue at hand, SX-2 funding. Don't confuse things by trying to push too many issues at once - though if you happen to know of a stand they've taken that you approve of, it doesn't hurt to mention "By the way, I really like what you've been doing/the position you've been taking on the XYZ question."
If you write or fax, keep it to one page. Mention right at the start you're writing about the FY'95 DOD Appropriations conference, tell them what you'd like to see done, then provide supporting details -- why you think this is good for the country and so forth. (The person reading it will almost certainly be an overworked underpaid staffer. If yours is the only letter they get, it needs to be sensible and persuasive; if yours is the hundredth, it needs to be easy to categorize and add to their running total.)
If you phone, keep it short and polite -- you're likely talking to that same overworked staffer. Tell them you're calling about the DOD Appropriations conference, and that you support funding for Air Force Phillips Lab to start development of the SX-2 high-speed reusable rocket ATD (Advanced Technology Demonstrator or "X-vehicle") and to complete DC-X flight test this fall. If they want to know more, fill them in as best you can, otherwise thank them for their time and ring off.
We especially need to get across that there should be no further delays in getting the SX-2 competition underway. Congress approved this a year ago, yet it's still on hold.
By the way, legislators on the lists below with an "*" next to their name are as best we know already SSTO supporters. When calling or writing them, thank them for their past support and ask them to continue it in the upcoming DOD Appropriations conference, then give 'em the details. We'd also like to hear about it if anyone gets positive assurances of support on this from any of the other legislators listed.
-- Senate Appropriations Committee, Defense Subcommittee list --
("Senator XYZ", office#, "Washington DC 20510" will get mail to them.)
(A * next to a Senator's or Representative's name means we're reasonably
sure they already support us on SX-2 funding and development.)
SENATOR PARTY/STATE PHONE FAX Office#
-----------------------------------------------------------
Bond, Christopher R MO 224-5721 224-7491 SR293
Bumpers, Dale D AR 224-4843 224-6435 SD229
Byrd, Robert D WV 224-3954 224-4025 SH311
Cochran, Thad R MS 224-5054 224-9450 SR326
D'Amato, Alfonse R NY 224-6542 224-5871 SH520
DeConcini, Dennis D AZ 224-4521 224-2302 SH328
*Domenici, Pete R NM 224-6621 224-7371 SD434
Gramm, Phil R TX 224-2934 228-2856 SR370
Harkin, Tom D IA 224-3254 224-9369 SH351
Hatfield, Mark R OR 224-3753 224-0276 SH711
Hollings, Ernest D SC 224-6121 224-3573 SR125
Inouye, Daniel chair D HI 224-3934 224-6747 SH722
Johnston, J.Bennett D LA 224-5824 224-2952 SH136
Lautenberg, Frank D NJ 224-4744 224-9707 SH506
Leahy, Patrick D VT 224-4242 224-3595 SR433
Nickles, Don R OK 224-5754 224-6008 SH713
Sasser, Jim D TN 224-3344 224-8062 SR363
Specter, Arlen R PA 224-4254 224-1893 SH303
Stevens, Ted RRM R AK 224-3004 224-2354 SH522
-- House Appropriations Committee, Defense Subcommittee list --
("Representative XYZ", office#, "Washington DC 20515" will get mail to them.)
*Murtha, John D PA 225-2065 225-5709 2423 RHOB
Dicks, Norman D WA 225-5916 226-1176 2467 RHOB
Wilson, Charles D TX 225-2401 225-1764 2256 RHOB
Hefner, Bill D NC 225-3715 225-4036 2470 RHOB
Sabo, Martin D MN 225-4755 225-4886 2336 RHOB
Dixon, Julian D CA 225-7084 225-4091 2400 RHOB
*Visclosky, Pete D IN 225-2461 225-2493 2464 RHOB
Darden, George D GA 225-2931 225-0473 228 CHOB
McDade, Joseph R PA 225-3731 225-9594 2370 RHOB
Young, Bill R FL 225-5961 225-9764 2407 RHOB
*Livingston, Bob R LA 225-3015 225-0739 2368 RHOB
Lewis, Jerry R CA 225-5861 225-6498 2312 RHOB
*Skeen, Joe R NM 225-2365 225-9599 2367 RHOB
Henry Vanderbilt "Reach low orbit and you're halfway to anywhere
Space Access Society in the Solar System."
4855 E Warner Rd #24-150 - Robert A. Heinlein
Phoenix, AZ 85044
602 431-9283 voice/fax "You can't get there from here."
(hvanderbilt@bix.com) - Anonymous
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(Print out the following proposed language for the FY'95 DOD Appropriations Bill and pass it along to any Congressman you contact. If we can get this into the funding bill intact, we'll have taken a major step forward.)
Proposed Language For
Conference Report On
H.R. 4650
Department of Defense
FY 1995 Appropriations Act
(Page & line numbers refer to
Public Print of 8/11/94.)
Page 42, at the end of line 2 (in the item relating to
Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, Air Force), add
the following: "Of the funds appropriated in this paragraph,
$50,000,000 shall be available for single-stage-to-orbit
research and development (PE 63401F) at Phillips Laboratory,
Albuquerque, New Mexico, for use for activities that will lead
to construction of an Advanced Technology Demonstrator
("ATD") X-vehicle, notwithstanding the assignment by the
President of the development of a single-stage-to-orbit
X-vehicle demonstrator to the National Aeronautics and
Space Admnistration."
Page 181, after line 14 (at the end of title VII), add the
following new section:
1 SEC. 8154. TRANSFER OF FUNDS TO AIR FORCE.
2 The Secretary of Defense shall transfer to the
3 Department of the Air Force for single-stage-to-orbit
4 research and development (PE 63401F) the remaining
5 unobligated balance of funds appropriated for
6 fiscal year 1994 to the Department of Defense for
7 the Advanced Research Projects Agency for such
8 research and development. Such funds may be used
9 to finish the original flight test program of the DC-X1
10 test vehicle and shall be available notwithstanding
11 the assignment by the President of the development of
12 a single-stage-to-orbit X-vehicle demonstrator to the
13 National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
*end*