Affordable Access to Space

The ability to put large accommodations in space at really affordable costs requires a two pronged approach. First, a launch tube (LT) is necessary to pre-accelerate a rocket before it leaves the ground and second, a much better, Million-Dollar-Rocket (MDR) needs to be built because both the cost of the rocket must be reduced 100-fold and the reliability of the rocket must be increased 1000-fold. Fortunately all three of these objectives can be achieved for less than 1% of NASA's budget and in can be achieved before the 2020 election. A LT is constructed by first suspending beneath an ocean barge, a 10-30 foot diameter pipe inside a 20-60 foot diameter outer pipe. The pipes would be approximately 200 feet long. By pumping concrete between the two pipes and allowing the concrete to pass  along the length of the pipes and slide into the ocean, a thick walled concrete tube is constructed for little more effort than just pumping concrete into a bottomless form. If ...