Overview

Today’s methods of getting things into the space are extremely expensive and inefficient. Since U.S.S.R. launched Sputnik into the space about half a century ago, launching procedures didn’t change noticeably. “Disposable” launch vehicles are still used to send payloads into the heavens. We still don’t have cheap and easily operated reusable spaceships.

Space race was really beneficial for the development of more reliable carriers. For several years aeronautics made a big leap forward; it grew from launching home-made rockets in the backyards to the sending a man on the Moon. Crashes every other launch weren’t unusual during the rise of the space flight. Even though for these 50 years electronics were changed for several times and explosions are very rare nowadays, many problems attached to the using these vehicles still present.

At the present there is a low point in the manned space flight. After the explosion of the Columbia, government froze all shuttle flights to investigate the reasons of it. Maybe now it’s a good time to start thinking about next generation of space ships that will take over outdated rockets and make travel safer and cheaper.