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In Rostov started production of the most load-lifting rotary-wing car The Russian holding «Helicopt[...]
Single stage orbiters
In the rocket-launched vehicles described above a considerable part of the mass at the start of the flight is the oxidant which must be carried in order to burn the fuel. A large proportion of this is used within the atmosphere and so considerable savings are possible if an air-breathing engine and aerodynamic lift can be used for the preliminary stages of the flight.
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Fig. 8.20 ‘Skylon’ space vehicle This vehicle is designed to achieve orbit using a single stage, with take-off and landing from conventional runaways (Photo courtesy of Reaction Engines Ltd) |
The object of the exercise is defeated, however, if an additional engine has to be carried instead of the fuel. The use of a dual mode engine, such as the turbo-rocket described in Chapter 6, provides a possible solution. The weight saving is sufficient to allow the use of a single stage to achieve earth orbit, with considerable savings in operating costs. The ‘Skylon’ vehicle (Fig. 8.20) is a proposal based on an advanced form of this type of engine. €1m of funding for further development of this project was annouced in 2009.
For spacecraft designed to make just a short duration journey outside the Earth’s atmosphere and at less than the speed needed for an orbit (sub-orbital spaceflight) a practical solution is to launch it from a conventionally-powered mother ship. This cost-effective, approach has been adopted for the Virgin Galactic Spaceship Two with its White Knight mother ship. The intention of this project is to open up a new market in ‘space tourism’, with the ultimate possibility of achieving high-speed long-range commercial transportation.
