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A comment on U.S. Needs to Weigh Rocket Engine Options, General Says. Parent comment

Re:U.S. Needs to Weigh Rocket Engine Options, General Says by Zancarius on Thursday July 17, 2014 @01:01AM (#8046123)
I don't see why it would conflict. He gets to prove his rockets function well enough for DoD needs, and SpaceX gets more money/experience.

AFAIK, following the retirement of the shuttles, the US no longer has a heavy lift capability. Looking to indigenous companies for filling that void is probably a medium/long term goal.

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Re:U.S. Needs to Weigh Rocket Engine Options, General Says by Sanddancer on Thursday July 17, 2014 @01:17AM (#8046159)
The US still has heavy lift capability from the Delta IV, which will be used for the first few launches of the Orion system. It isn't human rated, though, with that replacement coming in a few years with the Space Launch System/
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