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Robert Walker

In principle, yes perhaps, if you used many ICBMs and assembled the vehicle in orbit and you were really desperate. ICBMs are designed to send a lot of mass on a ballistic trajectory and are not hard to convert to send less mass to LEO. The Denpr, a lightly converted ICBM can send 3.2 tons to the ISS. That’s easily enough to send a human into LEO though not all the way to the Moon - but we have loads of ICBMs, so if you sent up the other parts in advance (as in some of the early Apollo ideas to assemble in LEO).

However ICBMs of course are not human rated, which requires far lower levels of risk - it would be a dangerous venture to do only if really desperate - not recommended!

Robert Walker's answer to How expensive would it be to convert all of the US's ICBMs into Space Rocket Transportation to places like the Moon or even Mars?

About the Author

Robert Walker

Robert Walker

Writer of articles on Mars and Space issues - Software Developer of Tune Smithy, Bounce Metronome etc.
Studied at Wolfson College, Oxford
Lives in Isle of Mull
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