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Company Name: HobbySpace - Launch, Propulsion & Spaceflight Systems
Company Type: Propulsion
Company Profile
As explained in my original About HobbySpace text shown below, I created this web site to reach out to members of the general public who are interested in space but don't actively pursue that interest. I believe this is because they are simply unaware that fun and captivating space-related activities exist for regular folk and not just for rocket scientists.
I want to encourage people to join with the many hobbyists who enjoy space related pursuits such as observing and photographing orbiting spacecraft, flying high-altitude rockets, or even building hardware for space such as the many amateur and student nano-satellite projects.
Less technical activities include creating or collecting space inspired artwork and music. A sizable business, in fact, has developed around the collecting of space memorabilia.
These non-tech activities may give only a vicarious involvement with space but they can nevertheless provide a real sense of participation in humanity's expansion into this marvelous new domain.
A media campaign ...
To further publicize space hobbies and activities, I have published the following papers:
Space Fun for Everyone: A brief survey of space hobbies and activities by Clark S. Lindsey. This is a reprint of an article in National Space Society's Ad Astra Magazine - May/June 2002 (under the title Unconventional Space: Amateur Spacers?)
Space for Amateurs: The role of enthusiasts in space exploration and development by Clark S. Lindsey. This is a reprint of an article in British Interplanetary Society's Spaceflight Magazine, January 2002.
During interviews on The SpaceShow on January 27th, 2004 and August 13th, 2002, I discussed with Dr. David Livingston some of my ideas on how to encourage greater public involvement with space.
The HobbySpace Log - Space for All weblog provides the latest news and updates related to space hobbies and activities and also includes items about space development in general.
Cheaper access to space for everyone ...
While participation in space activities on earth is greatly rewarding, the ultimate goal of space advocates like myself is see the general public obtain the opportunity to experience outer space in person. I expect eventually that millions of people will not only visit space but settle there permanently.
However, the very high cost of transporting people from earth has been an overwhelming obstacle to public access to space.
NASA and other government space agencies around the world have a very poor record with regard to developing cheaper means of getting to space. The Space Shuttle, for example, was initially presented as a vehicle that would significantly lower launch costs. However, its extraordinarily complicated design required a huge army of people to refurbish (or rebuild) it between launches and this caused the shuttle actually to cost more to launch than any other vehicle. For many institutional and political reasons, the agency nevertheless remained committed until recently to flying the shuttles for several more decades.
So in addition to providing resources about hobbies, I've gradually expanded the amount of news and information at HobbySpace that deal with the development of rocket vehicles in the private sector. This is where innovative approaches promise to lower launch costs by factors of 10 or more below current prices. My RLV and Space Transport News web log, in fact, has become the most popular page at HS. (RLV refers to Reusable Launch Vehicles.)
Launching into alt.space ...
This emphasis on commercial space development has expanded beyond just launch vehicles to include coverage of all types of non-governmental projects such as private space stations and space tugs.
When HS began, space tourism was considered a farfetched, if not ludicrous, notion by many people even within the aerospace industry. Dennis Tito changed all that virtually overnight and now space tourism is developing into a real industry. The winning of the X-PRIZE by Burt Rutan with the SpaceShipOne has set off a new race to develop commercial suborbital spaceflight. Routine operations are expected to begin in just a two or three years.
The movement towards innovative space projects pursued by non-governmental organizations, especially small, entrepreneurial startup companies, is referred to by various names such as the new space economy and commercial space but the most popular name is simply alt.space.
The alt.space community consists of new businesses, activist organizations, and individual space advocates and is growing rapidly. It has gotten significant attention recently with events like the X PRIZE and passage of the Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act.
I hope you will visit HobbySpace frequently as we monitor the exciting alt.space developments in the years ahead. If progress continues at the rate of the recent past, we will soon see an enormous jump in public participation in space activities.
About Company
A space tug refers to a spacecraft that remains permanently in space and whose job is to move other spacecraft. There is currently one space tug in serious development and several in the design stage.
A space tug in low earth orbit would greatly benefit the development of an elaborate and powerful in-space infrastructure. It could rendezvous with payloads launched from earth and take them to their destination, typically a space station. The payloads would no longer need their own orbital propulsion, guidance, and navigation systems. Thus launch systems could be simplified and their costs significantly reduced.
A space tug would also allow for new types of facilities in orbit such as fuel depots where vehicles heading for the Moon or other deep space destinations could fuel up before heading outward.
Orbital Recovery
Orbital Recovery is a collaboration of several European aerospace companies that is developing a space tug that will attach to aging communications satellites and extend their working lives.
The CX-OLEV space tug just after deployment
The CX-OLEV space tug attached to a comsat.
The CX-OLEV is expected to make its first flight later in this decade. The tug uses an electric propulsion system, which is extremely efficient at fuel use. The tug will attach to a comsat via the spacecraft's fuel nozzle.
Parom Space Tug - Energia
The Parom (Ferry) space tug is a vehicle designed by the Russian Energia company. It would remain permanently in space where it would dock with cargo containers and crew modules launched from earth.
The Russian Parom Space Tug
The Parom would take its attached module and rendezvous and dock with a station. This relieves the containers and crew modules from needing to have this capability on their own.
The Parom attached to a cargo container.
According to this interview with the chief designer at Energia, the Parom could be in operation by 2009.
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