
The spaceship reinvented for new frontiers - evo_9
http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/08/tech/innovation/spaceship-reinvented/index.html?hpt=hp_c3
======
Karellen
"Progress has been steady, with day-to-day work on readying SABRE for test
flights that Bond says could take place as early as 2018. [...] The ESA has
also praised the economic model, claiming the Skylon could meet its launch
cost target of €70 million ($94 million)"

SpaceX is _already_ making launches for cheaper than that[0] (even though
their manifest is already full until sometime in 2016) and hopes to be able to
lower their costs by up to 90% with their reusable launch system program over
the next few years.

Skylon may be a great idea, and if they were 5 years ahead of where they are
now then I'd be really excited for them. But if they're still 4 years away
from flight tests after 30 years of development, and will be behind where the
competition are _now_ when they get there, I for one am not as impressed as
the ESA is with their economic model.

[0]
[http://www.spacex.com/about/capabilities](http://www.spacex.com/about/capabilities)

