Single stage launch vehicles, and the facility of reusuable systems as an alternative space shuttle were evaluated. The philosophy, design features, and flight operations of the BETA design concept, that combines features of Saturn, Apollo, and LM, and that is based on known technology, are presented. A design example for minimum possible size shows a payload of 2T for a 200 km/28.5 deg arc orbit with a 130T launch weight. For a 10T payload, the launch mass is 350T. It is shown that, from the point of view of development cost and operational simplicity, the single stage ballistic concept is superior to other solutions, and is therefore of special importance for European space transportation economics.


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    Title :

    Ballistic Single Stage Carrier Vehicle (BETA): A Single Stage Reusable Ballistic Space Shuttle Concept


    Contributors:

    Publication date :

    1987


    Size :

    4 pages


    Type of media :

    Report


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English