DocM Posted May 25, 2017 Share Posted May 25, 2017 Look out small satellite launchers! If this thing can do daily launches and they're going to let it go to a commercial operator....... http://www.defenseone.com/technology/2017/05/darpa-picks-boeing-build-its-new-space-plane/138148/ DARPA Picks Boeing To Build Its New Space Plane The research agency hopes its XS-1 jumpstarts a whole new industry of very-low-cost satellite launches. Boeing did such a good job plotting out the commercial future of a reusable satellite-launching plane that theyre going to get to build it and just maybe, launch a whole new low-cost satellite industry. On Thursday, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, announced that Boeing had won the contract for Phases 2 and 3 of the XS-1 space plane, a reusable craft meant to launch 10 satellites in 10 days by 2021 or so, a goal that is key to the future of global military satellite communications. > Boeing has experience in reusable spacecraft design, having built the Air Forces X-37 Orbital Test Vehicle, which reaches spaces aboard a rocket launch vehicle but returns to earth as a plane. > The global market for low-cost space access is booming louder and bigger every year. A few years ago, one projection estimated that more than 2,500 small and micro-satellites would launch between 2014 and 2020. > > Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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