Now nine years later, SpaceX has proven our Falcon launch vehicles and Dragon spacecraft.
FORBES: SpaceX Responds To Forbes Contributor Loren Thompson
"As launch vehicles get more expensive, the ability to launch on smaller vehicles will become more important, " Dr. Harrison said.
But developing profitable launch vehicles to carry humans, cargo, and satellites will remain difficult with NASA around to distort the market.
That would mean satellite and launch rocket would have to be designed in tandem, so customers could not shop around for different launch vehicles.
Brazil and Russia to build jet fighter and satellite launch vehicles.
CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: The FTA with Colombia: the political dimension
Under the expiring START and the Moscow treaties the maximum allowable levels of warheads is 2, 200 and the maximum allowable level of launch vehicles is 1, 600.
"These are some of the most sophisticated launch vehicles in the world, " boasts David Triano of Shadow Components, a Lake Tahoe, Calif. manufacturer of elegant, carbon-fiber rockets.
After all, the United States reached an agreement with Russia last month that explicitly authorizes the sale of "space launch vehicles" and associated "facilities" to anyone it wishes.
Launch vehicles will be Falcon 9 rockets from SpaceX lifting off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, and Kosmotras DNEPR rockets lifting off from Yasny, Russia.
Someone who worries about this is Elon Musk, a co-founder of PayPal, a highly successful online-payments firm, who has also founded SpaceX, which builds cheap launch vehicles for satellites.
The United Launch Alliance in which traditional providers Lockheed Martin and Boeing are partnered to offer both Atlas and Delta launch vehicles has had 50 successful launches in a row.
Deep Space Industries said it can build its first class of probes largely with off-the-shelf parts and book them on other launch vehicles, such as the French-built Ariane rockets or the Falcon boosters developed by SpaceX.
The idea of personally exploring outer space appeals to many but the closest most folks can get now is to create an inexpensive satellite that can go out into space on the growing number of private launch vehicles.
Audi, BMW, Chrysler, General Motors, Mazda and Mercedes have all announced plans to launch new diesel vehicles.
FORBES: Do Diesel Cars And Trucks Save You Money? Not Always
Ford plans to launch 15 new vehicles in China by 2015, focusing on fuel-efficiency, safety and smart technology to help drive its sales and increase market share in the international markets.
The company is hoping to enliven its tired portfolio of vehicles with the launch of a range of light trucks and sport-utility vehicles (SUVs) later this year.
Its launch quality for redesigned vehicles is above the industry average, says J.
Meanwhile, Chrysler said it would launch 20 all-new vehicles, and 13 refreshed products, between now and 2009.
To cap it all, Softbank has announced the launch of new Internet investment vehicles for Asia, Europe and Latin America.
ECONOMIST: Is Softbank��s Internet empire as strong as it looks?
The automaker plans to launch a total of 15 new vehicles by 2015.
FORBES: China Has Growth But We're Tapping The Brakes On Ford At $15
And Renault, which is making the biggest push into electric vehicles, is planning to launch a scooter-type car called the Twizy (in which a single passenger sits behind the driver like on a motorcycle), a midsized family car called the Fluence and the sportier Zoe.
They showed video of that launch an well as discussed their plans for creating human rated vehicles to create an alternative to Russian Soyuz spacecraft for human flights to the ISS. The United Launch Alliance has had 62 successful satellite launches since 2006 and it is working on a human-rated Atlas rocket launch by 2015-2016.
The label, which will be part of the Nissan LEAF's Monroney label, is now ready for placement on the vehicles in anticipation of the December launch.
ENGADGET: Nissan Leaf blessed with 99MPG 'equivalent' sticker, roundtable arguments ensue
The city of York just announced a plan to install a network of pay-as-you-go charging stations for electric vehicles, the first such system to launch in the UK. York is already home to 12 free charging points, but these are located in lesser-known areas such as private parking lots.
ENGADGET: York announces pay-as-you-go EV charging network, beats London to the punch
DaimlerChrysler (nyse: DCX - news - people ) was counting on the March launch of its Pacifica sports wagon to demonstrate that smart vehicles will draw buyers away from foreign cars.
These habitats, which are folded up for launch and then inflated in space, were designed as interplanetary vehicles for a trip to Mars, but they are also likely to be useful general-purpose accommodation.
ECONOMIST: The Americans may still go to the moon before the Chinese
These quibbles aside, San Diego was the perfect place to launch this experiment, because no city is more committed to electric vehicles.
Each one is hoping that the event will help launch their products on the world market with delegates set to include vehicles manufacturers, specialist suppliers, technology companies and fleet operators.
Renault chose Seville as the city to launch its three new zero-emission models in October 2011, and ultimately these vehicles and others will be able to make use of 75 battery-recharging points that are being built around the city as part of Proyecto Movele, a government-sponsored plan to boost electric car use.
应用推荐