A Look at SpaceX’s and Virgin Galactic’s Hypersonic Plans
I found this video entertaining. I’m not sure this guy has any grasp of the technological challenges or how SpaceX and Virgin Galactic are trying to tackle it.
He also calls a pair of routine pilot proficiency flights of WhiteKnightTwo at Spaceport America mysterious. Nothing really unusual about them. They conducted these flights at Mojave regularly.
Hypersonic sounds great, but it’s not clear when or if it will carry passengers. What we might be left with are hypersonic weapons indistinguishable from nuclear missiles. The chance of an accidental nuclear exchange could become much greater.
6 responses to “A Look at SpaceX’s and Virgin Galactic’s Hypersonic Plans”
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This was an issue that was discussed in detail about 25 years ago in regards to the DC-1 SSTO serving as a point to point transporrt. The solution appeared to be good traffic control between the countries invovled with both giving permission for the launch to take palce before it did so. If it happens I expect the first flights will be between allies like the U.S.,Japan and Australia to work the system out.
As for VG, given the pace they work at it is unlikely anything will be done beyond some viewgraphs.
Wolf of Dubai, huh? He’s certainly got the infectious energy of youth going for him. As you say, his grasp of technology, and even of financial realities, seems incompletely baked. He doesn’t get a bookmark from me, but given what we usually see by way of Middle Eastern video enthusiasm – e.g, decapitations and jihad – it’s still good to know he’s out there and might not even be alone.
Well, hey, since we’re already not on the subject, do you think European or American pro sports have been harder hit by Covid-19?
Well, for sure, hypersonic weapons is a thing that we have been working on for quite some time. The doctrine is called Prompt Global Strike. Variations include conventional warheads on land and submarine launched ICBMs, Rods from God, and hypersonic cruise missiles.
Vladimir Putin claims that Prompt Global Strike introduces no problem at all. Russia does not have to fret about whether the incoming warheads are conventional or nuclear. The response will be nuclear regardless.
It isn’t if you want to do it to and from points outside each nation’s territorial waters. A vehicle that wants to fly to and from existing airports inside national borders has to be homologated by all relevant national authorities. A vehicle that wants to skip all that and operate among points in international waters owned by the same entity as the vehicles is not obligated to do that. SpaceX is ginning up an effort to design suitable off-shore, self-contained spaceports.
Not necessarily. Offshore platforms provide a lot of siting flexibility.