First Air-Breathing Spacecraft | Hacker News Reader

First Air-Breathing Spacecraft

rdw.com

15 pointsbilsbie15 comments

This whole thing is just corporate speak and self evangelising. There isn’t even any info on how it works.

This video covers the general concept, and even mentions redwire at the end

Air Breathing Satellites in Very Low Earth Orbit (13:12) - Eager Space : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEfatzhHhvg

To those wondering, this is about using the thin air of near space to maintain orbit, not Skylon/SABRE-style air-breathing launch vehicle.

This is Editorialised headline. Headline should be

Redwire Awarded $44 Million DARPA Contract to Advance Very Low-Earth Orbit Mission

Edit: And for those who are downvoting, it is actually in the guideline for submission. Otherwise please use the original title, unless it is misleading or linkbait; don't editorialize.

See GOCE sat for reference:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GOCE

How is this a spacecraft? It can't ever leave orbit of a planet with an atmosphere.

Neither could the space shuttle but surely that's a spacecraft. Why would it have to leave a planet to count?

Most spacecraft we know of never left the Earth orbit anyway.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacecraft#Crewed_and_uncrewed...

It spends it's entire mission above the Kármán line (100km), so it is legitimately in space, and is therefore a spacecraft, like all other satellites.

I am glad I am not the owner of rwd.com because I'd fire this writer. What the heck is an Air-Breathing Spacecraft?

It's a spacecraft that scoops up air to put into its propulsion system.

There's an annoying lack of details here, but that part is simple.

"air-breathing" is a common term for engines that use oxygen from the ambient air instead of from a tank - also people do this too. In this case though, it's just using the air as reaction mass though. Space begins at a lower altitude than the atmosphere ends so even a space-craft can be air-breathing, in principle, at least.

So it could be, but isn't, air-breathing.

And the title is misleading and clickbaity.

Is your complaint that it's only been allocated funding and doesn't actually exist yet? That's a bit of a stretch for click-bait. It's still an unusual type of vehicle.

Turns out an engine can be air-breathing even it it doesn't burn fuel with the oxygen from the air, but just uses it as reaction mass so this concept would still be air-breathing if it existed.

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