The design of an air-breathing winged launcher vehicle is a highly interactive process. The optimum (minimum mass) vehicle is determined by a trade-off involving fuselage shape and its influence on drag and structural efficiency (mass/volume) together with the rocket and air-breathing propulsion mode of operation and system sizing. These effects must be coupled with the most efficient mission profile. Contained are details of the ascent and descent optimization which must be conducted for a single-stage-to-orbit vehicle. Those parameters which have a significant influence on the selection of the air-breathing ascent, the rocket ascent, and the re-entry and autoland trajectories are described. The strong interactions between the various phases of flight, and their influence on the vehicle design and performance, are discussed. The launcher design mission is shown to have a significant impact on the ascent profile and the optimum configuration.
Ascent and Descent Optimizations of an Air-Breathing Launch Vehicle
1990
16 pages
Report
No indication
English
Space Launch Vehicles & Support Equipment , Spacecraft Trajectories & Flight Mechanics , Air breathing boosters , Air breathing engines , Launch vehicles , Reentry trajectories , Spacecraft design , Trajectory optimization , Ascent , Drag , Fuselages , Single stage to orbit vehicles , Structural design , Foreign technology