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Conceptual design assessment of a suborbital tourist space access vehicle

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 February 2016

B. Chudoba ,
G. Coleman ,
X. Huang  and
P. A. Czysz
B. Chudoba
Affiliation:
The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas, USA
G. Coleman
Affiliation:
The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas, USA
X. Huang
Affiliation:
The University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA
P. A. Czysz
Affiliation:
HyperTech Concepts LLC, St Louis, Missouri, USA
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Abstract

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Space transportation remains in the pioneering stages. What might this century bring if we had a ‘railroad to space’ that embodied the characteristics of the transcontinental undertaking? The X-33 and Venture Star projects were one attempt to achieve the characteristics of that transcontinental railroad. There are others, here and in other countries, but perhaps we need to begin with a smaller first step, a small, commercial reusable rocket with ballistic ascent to space altitude with a hypersonic glider return? Our challenge in space today is to develop vehicles that are in continuous use, maintained and operated on a fixed schedule despite weather or environmental hazards, which move payloads not only into space but back again. The X PRIZE was a $10 million prize awarded to Scaled Composites as the first privately financed spaceship that launched the equivalent of three persons to an altitude of at least 100 kilometers on two consecutive flights within two weeks. What about an analogous vehicle that flies two or three times a week, every week for a number of years? A major difference is that this challenge is to be accomplished without government support or government developed vehicles. The aerospace vehicle design (AVD) Laboratory team at the University of Texas at Arlington is developing a generic space access vehicle (SAV) design synthesis environment with focus on the conceptual design phase. The AVD Lab has applied elements of this toolbox to the study of a tourist aerospace vehicle under a grant from Rocketplane Limited, Inc. The development of a low-cost tourist vehicle based on the adaptation of a Learjet 25/35/45 series aircraft is the focus of this paper.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
The Aeronautical Journal , Volume 112 , Issue 1135 , September 2008 , pp. 523 - 535
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Aeronautical Society 2008 

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