Skylon, if it ever happens, will not launch from the UK.
Quote from: Alpha_Centauri on 05/17/2016 10:36 amThe spaceport isn't directly related to Skylon in any way, it's about developing the UK space sector through space tourism (virgin galactic etc) and eventually potential for a small polar launcher. Of course REL may well make use of the site for small-scale testing.I wouldn't say they are not related in any way. Sure, they are not dependent on each other. But a appropriately sized space-port would actually boost skylon chances.
The spaceport isn't directly related to Skylon in any way, it's about developing the UK space sector through space tourism (virgin galactic etc) and eventually potential for a small polar launcher. Of course REL may well make use of the site for small-scale testing.
The UK is a possible site for polar launches
The only thing that will boost Skylon's chances is finding a few Billion Dollars in development and testing costs. Which I hope they do.
It is highly doubtful the majority of the manufacturing would be in the UK. No, it would be shipped in parts to be constructed on site.
Not with Skylon, that would be ridiculous. There are no payloads worth it lifting. As I said the plans are for polar launches with a small launcher, indeed REL discussed their own plan for such a vehicle, the hint being it's not Skylon...
As I said the spaceport isn't about Skylon, but they may use it for testing.
Britain to announce the location of its first spacesport after tomorrow. http://www.parabolicarc.com/2016/05/15/reports-britain-announce-location-spaceport-wednesday/I believe that the only suited for Skylon is CampbellTown, right?
just for your fun:this guy actually gave a presentation claiming that if Skylon can bring costs down to 200 $ kg to GEO (!!!) and fly about 140 times PER MONTH, then Solar-based power will make you rich.He claims to work at REL, but it sounds suspicious because it clearly doesn't get the numbers right, and he puts his personal mail address (gmail) instead of the corporate one on the presentation.https://drive.google.com/a/unitn.it/file/d/0B5iotdmmTJQsek9TNHhkeUI4UDlRQlNyVUNMclhJYkpxa3Jz/view
Quote from: francesco nicoli on 05/29/2016 11:01 pmjust for your fun:this guy actually gave a presentation claiming that if Skylon can bring costs down to 200 $ kg to GEO (!!!) and fly about 140 times PER MONTH, then Solar-based power will make you rich.He claims to work at REL, but it sounds suspicious because it clearly doesn't get the numbers right, and he puts his personal mail address (gmail) instead of the corporate one on the presentation.https://drive.google.com/a/unitn.it/file/d/0B5iotdmmTJQsek9TNHhkeUI4UDlRQlNyVUNMclhJYkpxa3Jz/viewThis tells you all you need to know:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Henson
Quote from: AnalogMan on 05/30/2016 01:30 amQuote from: francesco nicoli on 05/29/2016 11:01 pmjust for your fun:this guy actually gave a presentation claiming that if Skylon can bring costs down to 200 $ kg to GEO (!!!) and fly about 140 times PER MONTH, then Solar-based power will make you rich.He claims to work at REL, but it sounds suspicious because it clearly doesn't get the numbers right, and he puts his personal mail address (gmail) instead of the corporate one on the presentation.https://drive.google.com/a/unitn.it/file/d/0B5iotdmmTJQsek9TNHhkeUI4UDlRQlNyVUNMclhJYkpxa3Jz/viewThis tells you all you need to know:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Hensonyou mean, for the scientology stuff?otherwise the wiki page of the man doesn't transpire any particular weirdness,,, And I can tell you, those slides are full of it.EDIT: Ah, but YOU are the man, right? now I get it. And sorry, but the numbers just don't add up. How did you get to the 200$/KG to GEO cost?
Quote from: francesco nicoli on 05/30/2016 09:24 amQuote from: AnalogMan on 05/30/2016 01:30 amQuote from: francesco nicoli on 05/29/2016 11:01 pmjust for your fun:this guy actually gave a presentation claiming that if Skylon can bring costs down to 200 $ kg to GEO (!!!) and fly about 140 times PER MONTH, then Solar-based power will make you rich.He claims to work at REL, but it sounds suspicious because it clearly doesn't get the numbers right, and he puts his personal mail address (gmail) instead of the corporate one on the presentation.https://drive.google.com/a/unitn.it/file/d/0B5iotdmmTJQsek9TNHhkeUI4UDlRQlNyVUNMclhJYkpxa3Jz/viewThis tells you all you need to know:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Hensonyou mean, for the scientology stuff?otherwise the wiki page of the man doesn't transpire any particular weirdness,,, And I can tell you, those slides are full of it.EDIT: Ah, but YOU are the man, right? now I get it. And sorry, but the numbers just don't add up. How did you get to the 200$/KG to GEO cost?The logarithmic Skylon $/kg vs flights per year chart is from REL's own paper on Solar power sat manufacture. It shows a price point of 200$/kg at a flight rate of 9000 per year.A quite outdated paper I believe, as it does not match their own minimal numbers... would you mind to send me the reference paper?
Quote from: lkm on 05/30/2016 10:10 amQuote from: francesco nicoli on 05/30/2016 09:24 amQuote from: AnalogMan on 05/30/2016 01:30 amQuote from: francesco nicoli on 05/29/2016 11:01 pmjust for your fun:this guy actually gave a presentation claiming that if Skylon can bring costs down to 200 $ kg to GEO (!!!) and fly about 140 times PER MONTH, then Solar-based power will make you rich.He claims to work at REL, but it sounds suspicious because it clearly doesn't get the numbers right, and he puts his personal mail address (gmail) instead of the corporate one on the presentation.https://drive.google.com/a/unitn.it/file/d/0B5iotdmmTJQsek9TNHhkeUI4UDlRQlNyVUNMclhJYkpxa3Jz/viewThis tells you all you need to know:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Hensonyou mean, for the scientology stuff?otherwise the wiki page of the man doesn't transpire any particular weirdness,,, And I can tell you, those slides are full of it.EDIT: Ah, but YOU are the man, right? now I get it. And sorry, but the numbers just don't add up. How did you get to the 200$/KG to GEO cost?The logarithmic Skylon $/kg vs flights per year chart is from REL's own paper on Solar power sat manufacture. It shows a price point of 200$/kg at a flight rate of 9000 per year.A quite outdated paper I believe, as it does not match their own minimal numbers... would you mind to send me the reference paper?
this guy actually gave a presentation
He claims to work at REL
Quote from: francesco nicoli on 05/29/2016 11:01 pmthis guy actually gave a presentationYes he did; to REL on the date shown.QuoteHe claims to work at RELWhere does he claim this??
I've corresponded with Keith on a number of occasions and have found him sincere and serious, though perhaps over-ambitious (IMHO) to initiate and rapidly expand SSP at scale which undercuts coal.
One thing I can be sure of (from my experience) is that he will have done the maths for both the physics and the economics before making any claims.His plans include boot-strapping; using each SPS also for in-space beaming - to power arc jets to assist LEO-GSO transfer (faster transfer minimises micrometeorite and van-allen radiation damage) of further SPS.
REL have certainly offered support to him, though I wouldn't claim this extends to endorsement.Keith has rarely commented on this forum: https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?action=profile;area=showposts;u=13365 though I'm sure he would be willing to justify his claims (to someone with well-considered arguments) via the email address he supplied.
I don't like the huge scale either. But if you want to solve the carbon and energy problems with power satellites, you are just stuck with it being huge. Population size and power demand per person.
BTW, the Skylon are expected to fly every other day. 140/month was the production rate of Skylons to keep up a million flights per year. If you rebuild them at 500 flights, it would reduce the projection rate to 70/month. The cost estimate graph mentioned in this thread gets down to $120/kg at around 100,000 flights per year. The electric propulsion (at 30,000 tons per month) add about $55/kg to the cost.