The Methane-Acetylene Cycle Aerospace Plane: A Potential Option For Inexpensive Earth To Orbit Transportation
£5.00
R. M. Zubrin. (1994), JBIS, 47, pp.241-244
Refcode: 1994.47.241
Abstract:
Rocketry is the most expensive form of transportation ever invented. For example, using either the Space Shuttle or expendable boosters, the current cost to transport material the 300 kilometres between the Earth’s surface and low Earth orbit (LEO) is about $10,000 per kg, compared with the $10 per kg cost of intercontinental air travel. The reason for this difference is that the rocket makes no use of the environment through which it travels, instead carrying with it all of its required fuel, oxidiser, and reaction mass.
