Morning Tom,

Seems like we can't turn around without acknowledging the work of a German rocket scientist...or, in this case, an Austrian who went to work for the Germans in the '30s. Eugen Sanger was a brilliant propulsion expert who came up with the idea of a "stratospheric plane" in 1933. It too was a suborbital bomber. The idea's actually older than the V2.

I don't know as I consider the military path the ideal way to build a spacefaring civilization, but pragmatically it's the one most likely to get the support of the key constituencies that control the purse strings. I actually agree with you that private enterprise is, ultimately, the ideal. I just discount it now because I don't think it's realistic to skip the phase of large government investment to get the ball rolling. In that regard there are a lot of historical precedents to back me up, from Queen Isabella through the American government's investments in opening the Western frontier.

The space bomber's an interesting proposal, and I guess on balance I hope this one goes somewhere. These days I'm happy when any space initiative goes anywhere.

--Robert