@Alex,
70% of Orbital Sciences Corp revenue is from government contracts, and they’re using a Castor-120 first stage (from ATK Thiokol, the manufacturers of the shuttle solid boosters that some US senators insist must be used for a NASA built jobs program, er.. crew launch vehicle). Not as private sector as some would have you believe. http://www.examiner.com/dc-in-washington-dc/government-contracts-over-70-percent-of-orbital-s-revenue
I’m a fan of private sector space development, I don’t consider OSC to really qualify as such.
Shuttle info for small c and cgh:
http://www.worldspaceflight.com/america/shuttles/overview.htm
-and-
http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/shuttle.htm
I cannot vouch for the political aspirations of either of these sites (as an example, I KNOW better than to cite Snopes for ANYTHING with political or religious implications) so you should read their articles with an appropriately jaundiced eye.
@Alex,
70% of Orbital Sciences Corp revenue is from government contracts, and they’re using a Castor-120 first stage (from ATK Thiokol, the manufacturers of the shuttle solid boosters that some US senators insist must be used for a NASA built jobs program, er.. crew launch vehicle). Not as private sector as some would have you believe.
http://www.examiner.com/dc-in-washington-dc/government-contracts-over-70-percent-of-orbital-s-revenue
I’m a fan of private sector space development, I don’t consider OSC to really qualify as such.