Big Bang: The Evolution of New Space

X Prize Chairman Peter Diamandis says the commercial spaceflight industry is experiencing a “Darwinian explosion” of suborbital designs, reports the Economist. At this week’s International Space Development Conference, which just wrapped up in L.A., vehicles as diverse as XCOR Aerospace’s Xerus, Rocketplane’s Rocketplane XP, and Blue Origin’s New Shepherd were topics of discussion. Also touted in the article: October’s X Prize Cup in Las Cruces, New Mexico. “All this suggests that spaceflight, if not exactly entering the age of the common man, is at least entering the age of the moderately prosperous enthusiast,” says the magazine. Read the full story:http://www.economist.com/science/displayStory.cfm?story_id=6911220