Aug 7, 2024 02:56 AM
(This post was last modified: Aug 7, 2024 03:24 AM by Yazata.)
It's the best idea that I've seen yet for point-to-point rocket cargo delivery here on Earth. It could be done with existing technology, I think.
It involves rockets launching what look like shipping containers into either full or fractional orbit. The video in the X post below shows a container being ejected from what looks like a Starship cargo bay, but Outpost Space says that their concept will fit into Falcon-9 sized fairings too. (So the launcher rocket already exists.)
Once free of the rocket that launched it, a container deploys a LOFTID-style inflatable heat shield. (These have already been successfully flown.) Then the container performs a deorbit burn and reenters the atmosphere. Finally it releases a parachute and makes a soft landing.
The US military just awarded Outpost Space a contract to further develop this concept for delivering cargoes to troops in the field, anywhere on Earth, in an hour or less. I think that it seems much more practical than trying to land cargo Starships on battlefields for military cargo delivery. Just drop shipping containers to the troops from space under a parachute. It wouldn't mean expending a Starship each time or potentially letting advanced Starship technology fall into the hands of an enemy, and the military is already familiar with airdropping containers and large pallets from airplanes.
Video render of the idea here
https://x.com/outpostspace/status/1818290990651703663
It involves rockets launching what look like shipping containers into either full or fractional orbit. The video in the X post below shows a container being ejected from what looks like a Starship cargo bay, but Outpost Space says that their concept will fit into Falcon-9 sized fairings too. (So the launcher rocket already exists.)
Once free of the rocket that launched it, a container deploys a LOFTID-style inflatable heat shield. (These have already been successfully flown.) Then the container performs a deorbit burn and reenters the atmosphere. Finally it releases a parachute and makes a soft landing.
The US military just awarded Outpost Space a contract to further develop this concept for delivering cargoes to troops in the field, anywhere on Earth, in an hour or less. I think that it seems much more practical than trying to land cargo Starships on battlefields for military cargo delivery. Just drop shipping containers to the troops from space under a parachute. It wouldn't mean expending a Starship each time or potentially letting advanced Starship technology fall into the hands of an enemy, and the military is already familiar with airdropping containers and large pallets from airplanes.
Video render of the idea here
https://x.com/outpostspace/status/1818290990651703663