Falcon - Pentagon Suborbital Spaceplane

John Creighton · 2004-09-30 07:52:22

Pentagon Suborbital Spaceplane for Weapons
Posted on Friday, September 24 @ 00:00:00 GMT by Administrator

rdw writes "The Pentagon are working with a design for a sub-orbital spacelane, called "Falcon" which would be able to deliver nuclear weaponry to any target on Earth within 2 hours.
This is so close, apart from the weaponry, to the sort of thing that the X-Prize teams are trying to do that it raises worries that some companys' efforts to start peaceful space tourism may get hijacked by lucrative military programmes. however, it should be admitted that just about any technology you can name has a military application, too. It's difficult to keep away from it. By 2010 an early version of Falcon could travel at Mach 6 and take a 500kg payload to 100km above the Earth. There are plans to use an air-breathing hypersonic engine (scramjet?) to loft greater payloads and deliver them to designated targets. Perhaps if this thing does get built, a non-military version will become available for civilian space transport use. Makes you sick, doesn't it?
Note: Source: New Scientist"

from:
http://www.spacefleet.co.uk/portal/modu … ...&sid=89

Here is the origal article:
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.j … ns99994408

Palomar · 2004-09-30 07:58:51

*"Money is always to be found when men are sent to the frontiers to be destroyed (war), but when the object is to preserve them (science/exploration) it is no longer so." ~Voltaire.

War, war, war. :down:

"Man is not born wicked: he becomes so, as he becomes sick." ~Voltaire

--Cindy

::EDIT:: I don't mean to go off-topic, but I just recalled the following: In the 1960s, Dr. John C. Lilly was doing experiments with dolphin intelligence (*humane* experiments...no cruelty, etc.). His papers were published and were so celebrated that the government got wind of them. What did the gov't want to do with his findings of how intelligent dolphins are? They wanted to find out if dolphins could be trained to follow detailed instructions/directions to swim next to/beside boats with explosives strapped on their backs.

Lilly was furious, and refused to help. Kudos to him.

Anytime something beautiful is discovered, a bunch of misanthropic slimeballs want to pervert it.

clark · 2004-09-30 08:05:09

Acronyms associated with the Falcon program:

SLV - Space Launch Vehicle (this is the responsive launch on command the DOD wants)
CAV - Common Aero Vehicle (dumb missle payload with last mile guidance, this is what carries the bomb)

The long term resuable spacecraft they are developing originated out of the nuclear research center in New Mexico back in the 80's. Funding dried up and the military took it over. The basic concept is for a space ship to "skip" across the upper atmosphere with scram jets- it shuts the engines off in the upper atmosphere then comes back towards Earth, hits the engines again and launches back into space, it does this all the way to it's target. This will allow a military strike from the continetal US within 2 hours to just about anywhere on Earth. All of this is the second stage of FALCON.

The first phase is to develop responsive launch on demand that can launch the CAV- then eventualy migrate to the hyper-sonic plane to deliver the CAV.

Link: http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Dec2003 … 12221.html

Contrators have already been chosen, and companies are fast at work on all portions of the program. They are working out the kinks with the scram jet now with NASA and the airforce.

John Creighton · 2004-09-30 10:39:06

Scarry, It looks like something right out of a sci-fi movie.

I remember when Clinton Looped curse missiles at Osama Bin Laden. I wonder if the bombs would of got there in time if the USF had one of these. Especially if there was one of these plans stationed in South Korea.

SpaceNut · 2004-09-30 11:10:06

Sort of like the scram jet x 43 project.
http://oea.larc.nasa.gov/PAIS/FS-2004-03-85-LaRC.html

Euler · 2004-09-30 13:56:07

The Falcon project really does not sound very similar to the x-prize to me. The x-prize vehicles are rockets built with the goal of reaching 100km. The Falcon vehicle seems to be a hypersonic airplane that only reaches 100km as a byproduct of going very fast. They are built on completely different principles, and I don't think x-prize experience would be all that helpful for building Falcon.

SpaceNut · 2004-10-07 10:40:50

SpaceDev Awarded $1.5M Phase II Small Launch Vehicle Contract to proceed with Phase II of its Small Business Innovation Research contract from the Air Force Research Laboratory to continue its hybrid rocket motor-based small launch vehicle project. The SpaceDev small launch vehicle will be designed to responsively and affordably lift up to 1,000 pounds to Low Earth Orbit. Phase II of this project calls for the design, manufacture, and hot fire testing of a prototype hybrid second stage motor with approximately 4,000 lbs. of propellant.

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/041007/75166_1.html

SpaceNut · 2015-08-15 22:31:58

Topic shifting fixed and this is another topic that should get merged to the other space plane discussions.

Shortly after the year passed Nasa directed many programs to be stopped and some were contined by the airforce with regards to space plane research. But that is something that the past would not know of....

Space Plane Shelved?

New Mars Forums

Announcement

#1 2004-09-30 07:52:22

Re: Falcon - Pentagon Suborbital Spaceplane

#2 2004-09-30 07:58:51

Re: Falcon - Pentagon Suborbital Spaceplane

#3 2004-09-30 08:05:09

Re: Falcon - Pentagon Suborbital Spaceplane

#4 2004-09-30 10:39:06

Re: Falcon - Pentagon Suborbital Spaceplane

#5 2004-09-30 11:10:06

Re: Falcon - Pentagon Suborbital Spaceplane

#6 2004-09-30 13:56:07

Re: Falcon - Pentagon Suborbital Spaceplane

#7 2004-10-07 10:40:50

Re: Falcon - Pentagon Suborbital Spaceplane

#8 2015-08-15 22:31:58

Re: Falcon - Pentagon Suborbital Spaceplane

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