The Future of U.S. Rocketry

by Edward Hujsak

From Space News. January 27, 1997: "Many would do well reading this treasure of facts covering the development of U.S. launch vehicles. Starting from American Robert Goddard's pioneering work, Hujsak... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1886133018
• ISBN13: 9781886133013
• Release Date: October 1994
• Publisher: Mina-Helwig Company
• Length: 201 Pages
• Weight: 2.35 lbs.

Customer Reviews

The Future of US Rocketry--The Dreams and the Reality

The early 1990s were a time of euphoria for the United States and the private sector. The multi-decade Cold War had ended with the extinction of the Soviet Union in 1991. There were discussions of "peace dividends" and of prosperity. Most Americans were happy and there was a good amount of investment capital available. This was a theme of the The Future of US Rocketry. Author Edward Hujsak listed the status of every launch vehicle that was in service as well as proposed vehicles that were being advocated by the private sector. His overview of various launch vehicles runs from the Atlas, Titan, and Shuttle vehicles that were in active use at the time. He noted the strengths and the weaknesses of each launch system. Hujsak also covered proposals for vehicles such as the McDonnell-Douglas DC-X Single Stage to Orbit Concept and the Space Services, Inc./ERR Conestoga solid fueled vehicle. There is even a section on liquid strap on boosters for the Space Shuttle. The economic and political optimism of the early 1990s gave way to the economic stagnation and U.S. national insecurity of the 2000s. Launch vehicle companies lost much of their euphoria and began to become economically pragmatic. Instead of building some of the vehicle proposed in Hujsak's book, the US is retiring the Space Shuttle and trying to replace it with Project Constellation, an amalgamation of existing rocket technology. Some of the Constellation technology was forged during the early 1960s! Most of the private sector proposals like the DC-X were abandoned due to high development costs. Those that survived used some form of existing rocket technology such as surplus Minuteman rockets. While economic reality became the paramount issue of the 2000s, the Future of US Rocketry gives the reader an idea of what can be done if the resources were made available to the US space industry. It is also a good historical reference for programs that have been terminated in the years since publication.