View source for SpaceCub

'''SpaceCub''' was a design project for a homebuilt rocket.  Between 1993 and 1994, [[Geoffrey A. Landis]] proposed that a vehicle designed to launch to the edge of space might be a feasible project for a "personal" spaceship, the equivalent of a [[Piper Cub]] for space.  The insight was that a flight to "only" 100&nbsp;km would reach the officially defined edge of space, and even though this is much easier a challenge than an [[orbital flight]], such a [[suborbital flight]] would be of excitement to the public, and the pilot would be officially qualified as an [[astronaut Badge|astronaut]].  A small group of rocket enthusiasts, computer hobbyists, and science-fiction writers gathered together to do a preliminary design, with the ultimate goal of moving on to building a prototype, with (then) physics student [[David Burkhead]] leading the technical effort.  The vehicle design was discussed in many venues, and presentations on the design progress were given in several conferences, such as the 1995 [[National Space Society|NSS]] [http://isdc.nss.org/1995/video_1995.html International Space Development Conference], where it attracted considerable popular attention.  The design was featured in print in places including the December 1994 [[Popular Mechanics]], and the Brazilian popular magazine [[Istoe|Istoé]].

Although a full-scale prototype of the SpaceCub was never built, the design (and the publicity surrounding the project) brought public attention to the concept that a small vehicle to fly a private pilot into space might be possible, and in that way served to stimulate the [[Ansari X Prize|X Prize]], which adopted the SpaceCub's goal of a 100-km flight altitude as a target for a competition.  In its way, the SpaceCub vehicle is a predecessor to many of today's concepts for [[space tourism]].

==External links==
*David Burkhead's [https://web.archive.org/web/20070930163738/http://www.sff.net/people/dburkhead/SpaceCub/spacecub.htm SpaceCub] page
*[https://archive.today/20121220025830/http://www.dm.net/~geoffrey-landis/spacecub.html SpaceCub history] essay by Geoffrey Landis
*SpaceCub [http://www.islandone.org/Launch/SpacecubFAQ.html FAQ] from Island One

[[Category:Private spaceflight]]
[[Category:Rocket-powered aircraft]]
[[Category:Space access]]