For the complete report from SPACE.com click on this link
Europe Unveils Space Plane for Tourist Market - by Peter B. de Selding
Europe's biggest aerospace company, EADS, has concluded that carrying wealthy tourists to 100 kilometers in altitude for several minutes of weightlessness could be a multi-billion-dollar industry in 20 years and is seeking co-investors to build a rocket plane it already has designed.
EADS's Astrium division, prime contractor for Ariane 5 rockets and for Europe's contribution to the international space station, said a group of its engineers has spent two years quietly designing a vehicle that looks like a business jet with exceptionally long wings and a rocket engine powered by liquid methane and liquid oxygen. The company unveiled the project in Paris June 13.
No comments:
Post a Comment