This article describes a launch vehicle development roadmap that uses only proven technology and that could lead to a thousand-fold reduction in the cost of sending people to orbit within about 15 years. It could reduce the cost of the first lunar base by very approximately ten times. This would clearly revolutionise spaceflight and create a new space age. The roadmap involves a combination of full reusability, aeroplane-like vehicle design and high traffic levels, especially from space tourism, to provide economies of scale. This line of development could have started some fifty years ago, and the failure to do this has led to a corporate groupthink that is probably now the biggest obstacle to progress.

本文介绍了仅使用经过验证的技术的运载火箭的发展路线图，该路线图可能会导致在大约15年的时间内将人员送入轨道的成本降低一千倍。它可以将第一个登月基地的成本降低大约十倍。显然，这将彻底改变太空飞行并创造一个新的太空时代。该路线图涉及完全可重用性，类似飞机的车辆设计和高流量水平（特别是来自太空旅游的流量水平）的组合，以提供规模经济。这种发展历程可能始于五十年前，而未能做到这一点导致了企业集团的思考，这可能是目前最大的发展障碍。