Human orbital spaceflight: the ultralight approach

by Richard Speck
Monday, April 17, 2006

Entrepreneurial breakthroughs in technology have always hinged on producing workable designs at affordable cost, and this usually required “radically minimal” design. Such a focus allowed Jacques Cousteau to prove that an affordable SCUBA system could replace a submarine for personal exploration of the ocean deeps. It allowed the Apple and Sinclair computers to make the “personal computer” more than a science fiction idea. It made the “funky” Aeronca C-2 the first certified (and successful) light aircraft in 1929.

A “Personal Spacecraft” could weigh less than this 184-kilogram airplane. For orbital launch, the complete fueled system would of course weigh one hundred times as much. But it is easy to forget that now—and in the future—cost per pound of orbital payload will continue to be large, and the fastest way to reduce the cost is to reduce the pounds launched to orbit.

More at: http://www.thespacereview.com/article/603/1