Rocketry in spac?

Question

Hi i am an expereinced "rocketeer" and i have been mkaing rockets for a long time. I now want to build a rocket big enough to reach outer space and deploy a smallish satalite. I know it would cost a lot of money but i am willing to spent alot. Pleaes give me suggestions on how to do this

Answer 1

Getting to space is fairly easy: just build a big enough rocket, and it'll go high enough. That's what the Rutans did with SpaceShip One.

But getting into *orbit* is very hard, because you need to go not just up, but sideways, and you must go sideways at 18000 miles per hour -- and you must do it while staying up at altitude.

That means that you need a method to precisely control the direction in which the rocket is pointed, and that method must work above the atmosphere. Most rockets that launch satellites use engines on gimbals, which are swiveled in response to commands from a gyroscopic-controlled guidance system.

Answer 2

Just consider that the smallest commercial rocket is like a Delta 1: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Delta_EELV_family.png

Somehow, I don't see you putting one those into space.

Note that even those that competed in the Ansari X-prize only got up to 60 miles: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-prize:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceShipOne_flight_16P
And that was with a plane as a booster.