Commercial RLV Technology Roadmap

Seems like a great idea to me!

First develop an-- expendable-- SSTO vehicle derived from the shuttle external tank (a Jupiter booster without the SRBs but with 6 SSME)capable of launching an Orion CEV into orbit (this would be a great launch booster in its own right, IMO). Proving that a-- single staged vehicle-- could actually achieve orbit would be a major stepping stone towards total space vehicle reusablity.

Second, once we have proved that simple SSTO launches are possible, the next step would be to build a totally reusable SSTO VTOVL vehicle by further reducing vehicle mass by:

1. developing a more cone shaped launch vehicle design

2. replacing liquid hydrogen fuel with a LH2-CH4 slush fuel.

and

3. replacing bell nozzle rocket engines with a plug-nozzle rocket engine.

Developing a an inflatable (probably expendable) hypercone to protect the surface area of the SSTO vehicle during atmospheric re-entry would of course be essential in order for the vehicle to be used again.

Marcel F. Williams

Yes its a natural and evolutionary idea.
...and yes, it sounds very similar to common sense ideas they've had before, which have all failed for the most part.

Normally You'd think enlisting the military would be a helpful thing, but they've decided long ago to remove men from the spaceflight equation and go for the more expedient launch systems. Disposable rockets are well within their budget and the satellites they use are (so far as we know) not worth enough to warrant repair or recovery missions.
Why would the Airforce want an RLV enough to ram rod it though for the next decade that it takes to design one?

I think the roadmap will end up saying what we already know. Everyone wants a cheap and reliable RLV but no one wants to fund its development.
Is there something about the new attempts that can change this?