ABSTRACT
The projected market for commercial space activity in the first decade of the 21st century has shrunk considerably in the last several years making efficiency in launch even more important. However, there probably would not be sufficient demand to warrant the development of reusable launch vehicles for at least another 10 years. However, it is worthwhile to evaluate what impact reusable launch vehicles may have by examining the following case study of the VentureStar project, which was cancelled in March 2001 after several years of effort.
