Another 2010 review; Canadian launcher pessimism
Chris Gebhardt posts the third part of his 2010 review, including a look at the Falcon 9 flight successes and the Shuttle program:Wrapping Up 2010: Safety and Success with an eye toward the Future – NASASpaceFlight.com. === A Canadian defense research organization is looking at developing an orbital launcher: Space Agency, DND seek to launch rockets for Canada – Montreal Gazette.
Starting with a handful of employees, no legacy hardware and no facilities, SpaceX developed and successfully flew two types of liquid-fueled orbital launch vehicles plus a large pressurized capsule within eight years. The Canadian Space Agency doesn’t think it can do nearly as well:
> CSA officials have said that a full-scale project to design and build a launcher could take between 10 and 12 years.