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The prospects for European aerospace transporters - Part II: A design concept for a minimum-cost aerospace transporter

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 July 2016

D. M. Ashford  and
P. Q. Collins
P. Q. Collins
Affiliation:
The Management School, Imperial College, London
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Summary

This is the second part of a paper on aerospace transporters (i.e. fully reusable aeroplane-like piloted launch vehicles) and describes a design concept intended to meet short-term European requirements at minimum development cost. It is generally similar to the European aerospace transporters studied in the 1960s but uses technology developed since then for such projects as Concorde, Spacelab, Ariane and the Space Shuttle.

It is concluded that such a vehicle could be built with more or less existing technology, and, using the costing approach described in the first part of the paper, that the development cost should be less than that of the semi-reusable Hermes/ Ariane 5 combination. A full feasibility study is recommended to check these conclusions.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Aeronautical Journal , Volume 93 , Issue 922 , February 1989 , pp. 39 - 49
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Aeronautical Society 1989 

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References

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