We will dust off a decades–old Vertical Takeoff Horizontal Landing (VTHL) Single–Stage–To–Orbit (SSTO) Reusable Reentry Vehicle (RRV) design called the VentureStar (see Image 1).
The VentureStar was supposed to start out as the X–33 proof–of–concept vehicle. The X–33 was a smaller–scale version of the VentureStar (see Image 2) and would have flown suborbital flight tests, where it would have launched vertically from one location and landed horizontally in another.
All aspects of flight test operations would have been evaluated, from un–crewed drone operations to the Thermal Protection System (TPS) to turnaround times between flights. Once all the bugs had been worked out on the X–33, the VentureStar itself would have then been constructed and flown.
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| Image 1: NASA drawing of the VentureStar space shuttle |
All aspects of flight test operations would have been evaluated, from un–crewed drone operations to the Thermal Protection System (TPS) to turnaround times between flights. Once all the bugs had been worked out on the X–33, the VentureStar itself would have then been constructed and flown.
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| Image 2: The X-33 was the proof-of-concept vehicle for the VentureStar |
There was also a problem with the propellant tanks, which were supposed to use composite material instead of aluminum. Since the technology for Composite Propellant Tanks (CPT) was in its infancy in the early A.D. 2000, it was inevitable that the tanks failed. CPTs are, of course, routinely manufactured nowadays, so our spacecraft propellant tanks will be made from the same material.
Work actually began on the X–33 and was almost completed when the funding ax fell. The launch and landing facilities were mostly complete, and the mission control center was essentially operational. They even had a plan to ferry the X–33 on the back of a modified Boeing 747, just like the US Space Shuttle did.
The VentureStar RRV would have replaced the US Space Shuttle at the dawn of the 21st Century (see Image 3). Alas, the Funding Equation was inadequate and led to its demise.
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| Image 3: The VentureStar as a Space Shuttle replacement vehicle |
We will incorporate modern technology, techniques, and materials to create an updated version of the VentureStar. The original VentureStar was designed to insert 25,400 kg mass to a 200 km altitude with a gross mass of 1,180,000 kg. Our new and improved VentureStar will deposit just under 32,360 kg to the same orbital altitude even though our design will be slightly heavier than the original design at 1,244,577 kg.
Equations
PROPELLANT MASS = LH2 MASS + LO2 MASS
EMPTY MASS = STRUCTURAL MASS + ROCKET ENGINE MASS + SUBSYSTEMS MASS
PAYLOAD MASS = 32,359 kg to 200 km
GROSS MASS = PROPELLANT MASS + EMPTY MASS + PAYLOAD MASS
GROSS LIFTOFF WEIGHT = g0(GROSS MASS)
g0 = Standard Earth Gravity
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Propellant
PROPELLANT MASS = LH2 Mass + LO2 Mass
PROPELLANT MASS = 169262 + 930944
PROPELLANT MASS = 1,100,206 kg
Empty Mass
EMPTY MASS = STRUCTURAL MASS + ROCKET ENGINE MASS + SUBSYSTEMS MASS
EMPTY MASS = 75919 + 28625 + 7467
EMPTY MASS = 112,012 kg
Gross Mass
GROSS MASS = PROPELLANT MASS + EMPTY MASS + PAYLOAD MASS
GROSS MASS = 1100206 + 112012 + 32359
GROSS MASS = 1,244,577 kg
Gross Liftoff Weight
GLOW = g0(GROSS MASS)
GLOW = 9.80665(1244557)
GLOW = 12,205,130 N
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