This has been on my mind recently, and I'm looking for some guidance. I think an open source (orbital) rocket could be an interesting and important project.<p>Since, generally, the only parameter to optimize in orbital rocket launches is cost, the goal of the project would be to design the cheapest possible rocket that can reliably deliver a payload of some size to orbit. SpaceX has already done something like this, but we know very little about their design and it may be able to be improved upon in some ways for this specific goal. For example, smaller solid rockets might be much cheaper but are not well rated for life aboard and often cannot carry an average satellite cheaply.<p>I know quite a bit about rockets, and I would be willing to get familiar with some more specifics if needed. But, I don't know if I know or can know enough to get this project off the ground. People would have to be interested in this, then there would have to be a consensus in the goal, and a consensus in what meta-route to take (solid, liquid w/ gas generator or staged combustion cycle, etc.)<p>Might there be interest in this? If so, how can I best help get something like this organized?