Interesting design. With a slight modification a Falcon Heavy can orbit ~55 tons of propellant. Then a fully loaded Dragon Capsule can dock with it and use it to launch into a Lunar, or Halo, Orbit. A landing vehicle, preplaced in Low Lunar Orbit, or the Earth-Moon L-1 Point, can then finish the journey. All without using a gargantuan booster. At ~$100 million per launcher, plus another $100 million for the lander, and a Moon mission can be done for ~$500 million. A steal compared to the multi-billions of the Ares V program that the USA had committed to under GWB. A properly designed lander can then be kept at the ready for repeat missions, tanked up as required.
Read more: Daily Mail News Item
Very exciting! Even if the costs are off by a wide margin, it’s still relatively cheap.
Adam, I checked out the link to the article and it was pretty much like all of the other articles about the FH. Where are you getting your information about the low-cost approach to lunar landings?
I personally want to see lunar ice developed and brought to LEO for use as LOX/LH fuel. Then, as this tranforms the orbital servicing market and enables dreams that people have for NASA to go beyond LEO, I would also like to see a self-sufficient colony developed on the north or south lunar pole with the goal of establishing a back-up for the human race. I’d say, the sooner the better. So the FH is really an exciting development.