November 7, 2017 – Today the Lake Matthew Team and ISEC Director Dr. Martin Lades announce integration of new SpaceX spacecraft designs into the Omaha Trail proposal for high-efficiency transport between Earth and Mars. Dr. Lades presented the Omaha Trail in conference today at the British Interplanetary Society

The new SpaceX spacecraft designs, announced by Elon Musk on September 29, 2017, are smaller than the Interplanetary Transport System (ITS) spacecraft announced in 2016. Ascent cargo payload is 150 tons. Also there is a new capability to remove over 99% of orbital kinetic energy via aerobraking, prior to landing burn. These changes called for a recalculation of Omaha Trail flight efficiencies and radiation protection. Updated results are summarized below, with all numbers relative to known or estimated baseline numbers for the new SpaceX spacecraft.

Cargo Benefits

Earth launches:

The required number of Earth launches for cargo delivery is cut by 71% .

Propellant: