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A Chat with Kristian von Bengtson, co-founder of Copenhagen Suborbitals (Video)
Copenhagen Suborbitals says their mission is "very simple. We are working towards launching a human being into space." That doesn't sound so simple, really, but they're approaching this gargantuan task with an intentionally simple approach: a small team, relatively unhampered by bureaucratic hassles, who are taking advantage of existing, off-the-shelf high-tech solutions when they make sense, and low-tech solutions when possible; if the parable of the Soviet space pencil hadn't worked its way into the mythology of space technology, it could have been based on the Copenhagen Suborbitals point of view. I talked with project co-founder Kristian von Bengston about the project's progress so far, as well as what the next steps are. Among those next steps: in summer 2014, the Suborbitals team plans to launch their HEAT2X lift vehicle loaded with the TDS-80 capsule; you can download the preliminary trajectory projections for both the launcher and the capsule.
SpaceX has the goal to be a successful orbital rocketry business.
These guys have the goal to noodle around and blow stuff up. Their capability is somewhere in the 1940's. Note "suborbital" << "orbital". You can go up to be 'suborbital'. If you want orbital you have to go up but more importantly around very very fast.
Orbital velocity is about 7 km/s. The plot on these guys's page shows velocity topping out at 0.7 km/s. So they have 1/100th the energy needed for orbit (and obviously they have no capability to do multi-staging which is quite non-trivial to do reliably). And if they put more fuel in, then the mass goes up even more. It's just useless hobby waste.
Thing about rocket science is that SpaceX knows it's rocket science and employs people who know the scientific and engineering experience of 50 years of rocketry. They know they actually need substantial simulation and material science experimentation. They know they need to build a rocket engine test stand and understand fundamental dynamics in many regimes including near vacuum.
I think you guys would do well to emphasize you are a non-profit, amateur group.
It looks at a glance like you are trying to do stuff commercially and so are judged based on that impression.
People would end up with a totally different impression if they understood this is basically a very advanced hobby for you and your team.
And I do not mean to say you are amateurs, just that you are not a for profit commercial enterprise. There is probably a good English word for what is between those two but I can't think of it.
Wax on, wax off baby!