Posted on 01/24/2022 10:35:40 AM PST by Red Badger
Artist's concept of the Radian One spaceplaneRadian Aerospace VIEW 7 IMAGES
A new company has entered the commercial space race. Startup Radian Aerospace has emerged from stealth to announce it has secured US$27.5 million in seed funding to develop a single-stage to orbit (SSTO) spaceplane called Radian One, which is designed to lift and land horizontally.
The commercial space field has been growing steadily in recent years, with contractors taking over ferrying crews to the International Space Station, launching huge constellations of satellites into orbit, and even sending private missions and tourists into space. In addition, there are plans to replace the ISS with private space stations and proposals to send private missions to the Moon and Mars.
These private ventures tend to fall into two categories for getting into space. One is to launch payloads atop conventional staged rockets. The second is to use boosters dropped from high-altitude aircraft to deliver small payloads to low-Earth orbit.
Radian Aerospace says that it plans to break this mold by developing a delta-winged spaceplane about the size of a small commercial jet air transport that will launch horizontally using a rocket-powered sled to allow the craft to conserve as much fuel as possible. Once aloft, three rocket engines put the spacecraft into orbit under a low-g ascent, for crewed missions of up to five days, before landing on any 10,000-ft (3,000-m) runway.
(Excerpt) Read more at newatlas.com ...
The artist rendered a far outdated design. Rutan’s “shuttlecock” design eliminates the need for expensive insulating tiles for entry at high speeds.
Yikes... a super catapult launched space plane. Low altitude bird strikes will be catastrophic.
I imagine an aerospike engine that could breathe air while air was still present then LOX once no O2 is left in the atmosphere .
Looks more like a Wiffleball...................
Back in the 1960s, I watched a kid’s show called “Fireball XL-5,” where the acting was all done by puppets. The rocket on that show was launched from a horizontal track, like this one.
Bird strikes? No worries. The proposed 30 million acre wind farm in the Gulf of Mexico will eliminate a few birds.
Like a mothballed space shuttle?
The noise would scare any and all birds away within 25 miles!..............
“launch horizontally using a rocket-powered sled”
How long is the track? How big is the ramp at the end of the track?
I guess this precludes manned space launches. It would scramble your brain and innards.
You dolt! Read the article: “crewed missions of up to five days”
So these won’t be 10g to 12g rocket sled accelerations.
Yeah, I’m sure the designers never thought of that...
A “single-stage to orbit spaceplane”. That was the original goal of the Space Shuttle program back in the 80’s: a cheap way to get into space. The result was only slightly less expensive to launch than an expendable rocket, and could only be used for low earth orbit missions. In other words, a failure. Can they do better today? I won’t hold my breath. I thought we would have cities on the moon by now.
Heinlein envisioned a ramp up Kit’s Peak...................
“A āsingle-stage to orbit spaceplaneā. That was the original goal of the Space Shuttle ... “
Never designed as single stage.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.