Tachyon Aerospace

Tachyon Aerospace is a spacecraft developer. Its main product is the TAV-1 space craft, which the company says is designed to lower the cost of carrying cargo into orbit. The site does not state a city or country for the company.

The company says the TAV-1 has an on-board fuel production plant. The plant processes 1,400 gallons of non-cryogenic, non-hazardous chemicals into gas, which is fed to the MX-2 engines. The site says this lets the craft carry a smaller fuel load. It also says the TAV-1 is an integrated flight system with 35 years of research behind it.

The site says the TAV-1 has two MX-2 engines, each 26 feet long and 8 feet wide. The MX-2 is described as the second generation of Tachyon's MX engines. Each engine has a plasma reactor core and a gas processing plant, and the craft uses a gyroscopic assist drive for maneuvering.

The site lists possible uses. These include satellite deployment, retrieval, and servicing, crew and supply transport to the International Space Station, and rover deployment and retrieval. It also lists experiments in orbit in scientific, chemical, medical, and horticultural areas.

The company also lists other technologies in development. These include propulsion, alternative fuels, radiation and EMP shielding, aircraft smart skin, med-bed technology, and communications. The site says the technologies are at a technology readiness level of 3 to 4.

The site includes a memorial to founder Robert O'Keeffe, who the site says helped many scientific teams and organizations. The stated mission is to lower the cost of space access and to give humankind the ability to become an interplanetary species. The site has leadership, news, and contact pages. The site says the company is developing the MX-2 engines and will manufacture them itself. It says multiple engine versions will be scaled to missions and customer preferences.