Spaceport Singapore
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With our limited air space up there, I don't think it can be possible.
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Originally posted by zaxis:
fire off from Singapore to space is nearest , save fuel
but return is difficult, landing problem
oh equatorial area nearest to space? first time heard of that.
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Originally posted by kengkia:
oh equatorial area nearest to space? first time heard of that.
earth is almost round, so now earth move, how? round or oval ?
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i thought it would be the same distance to travel from gound to space anywhere in earth..hmm
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Originally posted by kengkia:
i thought it would be the same distance to travel from gound to space anywhere in earth..hmm
so what your answer, revol round or oval?,
answer earth is round, but revol movement is oval,
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/tropical/lecture_02/01m.jpg
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Theoratically, sub-orbital flights needs no rockets. The spaceship simply piggy back on a larger jet, example the 747, which will bring it up to 50.000ft, and from there, the spaceship will ignite their engine to leap into the boundary between Earth and space - 360,000ft(100km).
Technically, they will not go beyond the boundary into Space but will shut out their engines and glide back to earth, with passengers experiencing 0 gravity.Having a seating capacity of 6-9 persons means it can land safely in Changi Airport with untouched excess runway length still.
It is well within Singapore's efficiency, ability and capability to host this space venture, as well as the lucrative spin-offs such as astronaut trainning, astronomy, etc, it will bring in tourist dollars. Our Terminal 2 or even military airports can easily host the landing vehicles.
It's only the monthy overheads and maintenance of the operations as well as talents in management of such enterprise may prove costly, even with the cost per person at a mediocre $300,000.
Will i invest in it if i had the money? I really don't know. This is no flight of fancy but a reality, springing forth from humanity's long held childhood dream to go into space and see the stars and beyond, as if it had been programmed into our genes to reach for outer space. -
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Originally posted by parn:
With our limited air space up there, I don't think it can be possible.
which limited airspace. military/sovereign or commercial? -
Originally posted by wonderamazement:
which limited airspace. military/sovereign or commercial?
There's only one airspace above Singapore, regardless of which type of traffic are using it. -
While it is true airspace is limited, but suborbital flights work just like commercial flights.
The mothership (B747) can take off from Changi Airport, follow commerical flight pattern, then turn into the South China Sea. Once there in international waters, no one owns the airspace. The mothership will then go into a rectangular flight holding pattern from 20,000 ft till it reaches 50,000ft.
Once at the height, the spaceship will jettision off from the mothership, perhaps at a 45 degree angle, at mach 3 speed, and will achieve 360,000 ft quickly. Afterwhich, they will cut engine, and glide back down to earth, all these still very much within international waters.
The spaceship will then glide following the commerical flight corridors of the south china seas back into Changi Airport.
So in truth, airspace isnt an issue.
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The 747-400's certified ceiling is 45100 feet - where's your 50000 feet come from? The only 747 model that could hit 50000 was the SP and they've all been withdrawn from service.
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Originally posted by Gedanken:
The 747-400's certified ceiling is 45100 feet - where's your 50000 feet come from? The only 747 model that could hit 50000 was the SP and they've all been withdrawn from service.
I highly doubt a stripped 747 could even get up to that height while piggybacking a fully fueled spacecraft. The weight of the spacecraft and its parasitic drag would conspire to drastically limit the performance of its 747 "mothership." -
I foresee in the future floating ERP gantries
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"Japanese businessman Daisuke Enomoto is suing Space Adventures as his trip was canceled by them for medical reasons after he paid $21,000,000 and no refund was given."
Want to set up shop in Asia ? No way lah.....bad reputation already.
If anything.. Japan may just decide to build one themselves.
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I doubt we are going to see it in our life time. Maybe if you can come up to test the theory of anti gravity ....
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Originally posted by Gedanken:
The 747-400's certified ceiling is 45100 feet - where's your 50000 feet come from? The only 747 model that could hit 50000 was the SP and they've all been withdrawn from service.
45 747SP were built. The last one in 1987. 17 are still in service as of today, notably in the middle east. However, 747s are only an example, based on its fame for being used to ferry US space shuttles.Actual suborbital flights would not need a 747 as a mothership. It would not be cost effective just to carry 10 persons. What would be cost effective would be the actual ones built and tested by the aeronautical firm Scaled Composite, notably 'White Night' craft which launched Spaceship 1 during the media test flight presentation.
Reality is before us now.
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Actually, the cost of $115million is not an unsurmountable figure. It is just how hardworking SA are. There are more than one way to obtain funding, which create jobs and help spread redistribute wealth and knowledge to the less unfortunate.
Give a million to the poor, feed them and next day they will be hungry again, and a million dollars gone. But give them hope by giving them knowledge and opportunities for work, they will be fed for life.
Rather than to rob the rich, whom most had worked hard over years, give them an avenue which they will spend willingly, eg - exclusive orbital flights, which sets them apart from the rest of the peasants.
It will be peasants later who will benefit from the funding and spending by the rich, and fly to the moon, the way our forefathers who carried rice packs on their back and could only see the rich take flights to another country. Now their descendents take flights like taking taxi.
Space tourism will be the next opportunity to redistribute wealth and progress as well as evolution of our species, if done right.
Obtaining money
1. Banks - One have to have $115million in personal accounts before he can loan the same amount.
2. Capitalists.- hard sell, have to work extremely hard and creatively
3. Stock market - but need at least to show 5 years of stability before being able to be listed.
Out of the box methods.
1. Obama style - online funding. If SA have bright creative minds, the internet would be a great source of funding to further the evolution of mankind.
2. Singapore Toto draw style. Print 1 million lottery draw tickets with free trip to space for the lucky 10 persons, at $115 per ticket. Such tickets are transferable for the actual price of spaceflight - US$100,000. The draw will not be held until 1 million tickets had been sold.
(figure 1 million is based on 50% of our 2 million citizen workforce who would buy to hope for an US$100,000 windfall.)
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Instead of spending billions of dollars to build a spaceport and its attendant infrastructure, couldn't we just spin up the Singapore Flyer really, really fast and use it to slingshot men and materiel into low earth orbit?
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Originally posted by xtreyier:
45 747SP were built. The last one in 1987. 17 are still in service as of today, notably in the middle east. However, 747s are only an example, based on its fame for being used to ferry US space shuttles.Actual suborbital flights would not need a 747 as a mothership. It would not be cost effective just to carry 10 persons. What would be cost effective would be the actual ones built and tested by the aeronautical firm Scaled Composite, notably 'White Night' craft which launched Spaceship 1 during the media test flight presentation.
Reality is before us now.
Oh, so it's just conjecture then? My mistake - the way it was phrased it appeared to be more like a done deal.
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The case for space ( from a previous post just before it was..er..iced)
Mankind's progress and evolution had always been driven by a desire for profit. It is the healthy bottomline that things are created, that would enhance our lives, from the first flint knife to Boeing jets.
The makers of products and their workers would be rewarded when they trade their products and they in turn will have money to purchase or trade for other products.
Thus, economics/ commerce was responsible for our evolution, coupled with religion and politics to ensure a stable environment for futher intellectual and economic growth of our civilisation.
The first great massive ships created by medieval Spain and England were solely meant for trade, carrying their trinklets to trade for Asia's gold, which led to the great age of discovery as well as domination of others. It also provided great wealth for such nations, leading to an age of renaissance in Europe.
It was the desire for profits/commerce that transformed Europe.
During the dark middle ages of medieval Europe, espacially England, torned with constant religious wars as well as virus epidemics, it was the discoveries of new worlds that uplifted and progressed those nations.
Nations that financed trade explorations overseas created empires, so much so that a small island state known as England almost ruled the world with its total domination of the seas using their ships, through its intelligent and loyal subjects, from the shopkeeper to the general.
Currently, the world is in a similar state as the dark ages, with forthcoming religious wars, financial crisis and epidemics threatening to break out. Mental depression is the state of mind of most. It needs something strong to give hope, and that which is worth continuing this struggle of life for themselves and the next generations, a common direction and destiny all can hope and head for.
The answer for this age would be outer space and colonnization of worlds.
Eversince the russian sputnik1 satellite was successfully launched, it broke the boundaries between earth and space, as well as our mental barriers to make that leap into space.
Now, thru national funding, mankind had spaceships that could travel even out of our solar system and into the beyond. However, such fundings are low, and meant only for research purposes, have no or little commercial gain except its spinoffs, rather than serious attempts to colonnise worlds.
It would take commerce leaders to initiate that effort.
It is the commercialisation of outer space that will allow mankind to make that baby step towards colonnisation, beginning with our moon, the way the first spanish ship was built for trade.
Only in this case, there will be no one to trade earth's products with, for we are the only known sentient beings in the Universe. However, this claim is still refutable as we had not ventured far enough to know.
It will be space tourism instead, that will create the necessary funds, to make contact, in stages - from the suborbital tourist flights, to nuclear powered space stations/hotels, to moon bases where factories could be built to create nuclear powered spaceships like the russian types, with its low gravity pull and utter barren environment, and will springboard manned missions to chart planets for habitability and resources.
Side by side with the altrusic motive of space colonnisation will be attached the tourism industries at every stage for funding. Currently, the costs borned by space tourists will be high, but subsequently, thru economies of scale and competition, trips to outerspace and moon may be similar in price to trips to US.
With the large economic base provided by the masses later, huge amounts of funds can be set aside for the conquest of space, provided mankind learn its lesson and avoid the excesses of greed such as high bonus payouts to officers of the space enterprises, as well as the destructive nature of religion twisted to serve evil men.
Such funds will be use for research in both biomedical sciences and engineering to further our reach into space, eg, just as commerical air travel started from the humble DC5 into the jumbo 757 booasting better features and technologies.
Singapore, like England of the past, is only a small state. We have peace and stability, and our citizens scientifically intelligent as well as economically pragmatic. We may be the ones to lead mankind into commercialization of space.
Singapore's spacesport is the first step towards that direction, just as the great East India Company started out as only a bunch of shopkeepers with 3 ships but commanded nations when it grew.
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A Glimpse of Heaven
A view of our beautiful planet, at 100km height , our one and only homeworld before we or our next generations disperse into the stars
