Pebbles, the space based layer of SDI's defenses. Many believe that if and when it demonstrates the ability to meet the goals I have outlined new transportation Service Companies will enter the space travel field and industry will compete to provide these with the low cost, safe, and reliable vehicles they will be shopping for. The SSTO promises to become the Space DC-3 of the 21st Century. Additional Advantages One major advantage that SSTO transports will enjoy over existing expendable systems lies in their flexibility when it comes to both launch and recovery sites. Because the new transports drop nothing on their way to orbit and back, and are capable of returning to base or continuing on their missions under emergency abort conditions, and need no highly specialized and exotic ground facilities, they will be able to operate off inland bases as well as on the coast with no more risk to those below than presented by today's aircraft. This in itself will reduce costs for their users if not their operators. The availability of inexpensive specialized space transports will not necessarily obsolete heavy lift vehicles such as the Shuttle. It could however change their role somewhat. Shuttle vehicles, while expensive, complex, and risky serve as space laboratories once in orbit. While criticized as a cost effective transport its usefulness to do more than merely carry people and equipment is unquestioned. In this last role the longer it could stay in orbit the more cost effective it would become. The only limiting factors here are resupply of expendables, replacement of crews, and removal of waste. If a cheap transport SSTO rocket can act as a ferry for resupply the shuttles could stay in orbit for weeks or more on tests and tasks of the type envisioned for the space platform. Another important characteristic of the family of SSTO vehicles now on the drawing board is their likely versatility once in space. Unlike Shuttles or expendable rockets if refueled in orbit they can operate effectively anywhere in cis-lunar space as well as land on the moon. This suggests that even first generation models will be able to deliver cargo beyond LEO if refuelled in space. As such they should eliminate the need for secondary lift systems - space tugs - to do this for solar energy projects like SPS. In Summary We now have a new family of space transports under development that should provide reliable, low cost transportation to and from low Earth orbit. This should make the frontier of space affordably accessible for the benefit of all friendly nations and establish a new space highway over which space commerce can flourish. This system is currently referred to as Single Stage To Orbit (SSTO) space transportation vehicle. The SSTO will initially be a medium lift (10 to 20 thousand lbs of cargo) low mass, reusable, transport - probably, though not necessarily, featuring vertical take off and vertical landing. It can however be scaled up for heavy launch requirements in later models.
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