HobbySpace - Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) Information

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RLV & Space Transport Information
Part 2 - RLV Projects Outside US + RLV Technology

The European Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle (IXV) atmospheric reentry demonstrator.

Japans Reusable Vehicle Test (RVT) series.

Current RLV Projects Outside of USA

Past RLV Projects...
Australia and New Zealand:
- Rocket Lab - NZ
Chinese RLV(?):
- Chinese Manned Space Program at Mark Wade's Encyclopedia
- Articles:
Europe:
- Articles and papers:
  - More ESA reusable space transportation system work? - Hyperbola - Aug.27.08
  - ESA ready to support European space tourism efforts - Hyperbola - May.21.08 - Rob Coppinger reviews European suborbital space tourist vehicle projects
  - Europe and Space Tourism - VEGA Group: review paper presented at a space tourism meeting on 7 June 2006 sponsored by the Royal Aeronautical Society.
  - Europe joins space tourism race - TimesOnline - June.10.07
- ACTS ((Advanced Crew Transportation System) - joint ESA/Russia program
- Next generation launchers - ESA
  - IXV: the Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle (pdf)
    - Is this the first Crew Space Transportation System demonstrator? - Hyperbola - Apr.29.08
  - NGL Prime awarded future launcher contracts - Flight International - July.9.07
  - Development contracts signed for future European launchers - ESA - June.27.07.
- FAST20XX - Future High-Altitude High-Speed Transport (FAST) 20XX -
  - Study of suborbital and hypersonic point-to-point transport systems
  - Spaceliner:
- LAPCAT (Long Term Advanced Propulsion Concepts and Technologies)
  - Overview - ESA
  - LAPCAT description
  - LAPCAT at Reaction Engines
  - General Overview, J. Steelant LAPCAT-Coordinator, ESTEC-ESA (pdf of ppt)
  - The Perfect Airplane - Flight Today/Air & Space Magazine - Sept.09 issue
  - Europe Speeds Up Hypersonics Research : With programs such as LAPCAT and ATLLAS, Europeans are joining forces to make hypersonic civil transport a reality - AIAA Aerosapce America - June.2008 (pdf)
  - EU to fund hypersonic civil transport research - Flight Global - Oct.23.07
  - Hypersonic hydrogen airliner to bitchslap Concorde - The Register - Oct.24.07
- FLACON: Future High-Altitude Flight - an Attractive Commercial Niche? - Europa. EU Projects
  - Airbus A380 Freighter could air launch space tourists - Flight Int. - Apr.28.07.
- Survey report on space tourism - Sam Adlen of the Vega Group.
- ESA -Next generation launchers
  - ARD - capsule launched to test thermal protection systems.
  - Ares - Atmospheric Reentry Experimental Spaceplane
  - Themis
  - Tarantis
- ARIES - Thales Alenia concept
  - Thales Alenia Space's answer to EADS Astrium's Space Jet - Hyperbola - May.2.08
  - Europe in space:Project "ARIES" and "MOONLIGHT" - NASASpaceflight.com Forum
- Spacelinq.nl - A Dutch suborbital spaceplane project derived from the US Rocketplane.
  - Rocketplane’s Chuck Lauer Resurfaces in European Commercial Suborbital Project - Parabolic Arc - Apr.8.11
- BOOSTER Space Industries - European company planning an air-launched suborbital rocketplane
  - Booster Consortium - a wide range of companies involved in the
  - New suborbital tourist transportation - Space.Travel - Dec.2.11
- Bristol Spaceplanes
  - Ascender - X-Prize
  - Spacecab
  - Spacebus
- Dassault Aviation VEHRA
  - Air-launched manned suborbital vehicle - evolution of the X-38 lifting-body design. The vehicle would be the first in a series that led to an orbital system.
  - Dassault gives K:1000/VSH suborbital vehicle update - Hyperbola - Apr.28.10
  - In the Air 2010 newsletter
- EADS Astrium Space Tourism Vehicle
  - Space plane - EADS
  - Astrium Brochure (pdf)
  - Wikipedia - Astrium space tourism vehicle
  - EADS Astrium puts its "space jet" on hold indefinitley - Hyperbola - Mar.24.09
  - Space planes 'to meet big demand' - BBC - Mar.17.08
  - European space tourism vehicles - The Space Review - July.2.07
  - BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Firm rockets into space tourism
  - BBC Video- Tourist spaceship previewed
  - Europe Unveils Space Plane for Tourist Market - SPACE.com - June.13.07
  - New 'space jet' proposed for suborbital jaunts - New Scientist - June.13.07
- DSL
  - The DSL Space Transportation System
- EADS/DASA/Astrium - Alpha/Phoenix/Hopper - ASTRA
  
  Germany's reusable sub-orbital Hopper demonstrator.
  - Future Launchers (FLPP)
    - ESA's future launcher programme demonstrators - Flight Global - Feb.10.09
  - Alpha - air launched reusable suborbital vehicle project, derived from the Phoenix
  - Hopper = Sled launched 2-stage demo system. First stage booster glides back, 2nd stage is expendable and takes payload to orbit.
  - Phoenix = a prototype vehicle like the X-38 that will be dropped from a helicopter to test the autonomous landing system.
  - Europe's 'SpaceShipTwo', meet Alpha - Hyperbola - Feb.12.10
  - Phoenix Captive Flight Campaign - Esrange
  - Successful flight for Phoenix - SSC Esrange - May.10.04
  - Europe's space shuttle passes early test - New Scientist - May.10.04
  - Phoenix performs first glide test - spacetoday.net - May.9.04
  - Phoenix PR - DLR - Aug.20.03 (in German)
  - Raumtransporter der Zukunft (Space transport for the Future) - ESA - Mar.11.03 (in German)
  - Prototype "space hopper" ready for testing - New Scientist - June.25.02
  - Europe's Phoenix: Test Craft Sets Stage For Reusable Rocketry - Space.com - June.21.02
  - Germany plans new space glider - Flug Revue - June.01
  - TETRA/X-38 & ASTRA - German RLV Activities - Klaus Berge of DLR (1.6MB pdf) - some interesting pictures of the Hopper sub-orbital demonstrator and Phoenix air drop test vehicle (similar to X-38)
- CIRA Hopper
  - CIRA's Hopper and Germany's unmanned lunar sample return vehicles - Hyperbola - May.7.08
- Orbspace - Austrian based startup that plans to build a VTOVL suborbital vehicle.
  - Infinity would go to an altitude of 200 km and could be configured for manned or unmanned operations. The small prototype
  - JetFly would provide a testbed for development of technologies for the Infinity.
- PRORA - Italy - National Program for Aerospace Research -RLV technology development program
  - Pollux
    - High-Tech Space Planes Taking Shape in Italy, Russia - SPACE.com - June.3.10
    - Italian Space Plane Prototype to Attempt Daring Maneuvers - SPACE.com - Mar.1.10
  - USV (Unmanned Space Vehicle) - Castor
  - IXV - atmospheric reentry demonstrator, which has a small lifting body design, will fly to space on a Vega launcher in 2012:
  - AREV (select AREV under "text capability" list): Atmospheric Re-entry Experimental Vehicle
- Pre-X - France
- Project Enterprise - A privately funded project involving an alliance of the TALIS-Institute, Swiss Propulsion Laboratory (SPL), VEGA, and Xtreme Air GmbH.
  - Talis Enterprise AG
  - Project Enterprise new debut - Space Transport News - Feb.14.08
  - This project began in 2006 and was redefined in 2008. Involves a horizontal takeoff and landing vehicle for space tourism.
    - Plan is to first build a prototype "Black Sky“rocket powered version of an existing Xtreme airframe. This will begin flying in 2010
    - Maiden flight of the production model "Enterprise" is planned for 2011
    - The goal is by 2013 to see wo flights per week with 3 passengers each.
  - Articles:
    - Weltraumtourismus: Per Sachsen-Anhalter in die Galaxis - SPIEGEL - Apr.17.08 - Google Translation
  - Earlier design:
    - All-European consortium plans suborbital vehicle - Flight International - June.20.06
    - 2-stage rocket with LOX/Kerosene engines. Small payloads to orbit. Equatorial 200-250kg and polar 100-150kg.
      - First launch in late 2007 or early 2008
      - Manned suborbital version eventually
    - Development of an economically and enviromentally friendly launch vehicle for small civilian scientific and commercial satellites - TALIS - Dec.15.04 (pdf)
    - animation (38.1MB mpg)
    - Project Enterprise - TIM Report - July-Sept.2005 (In German)
    - Project Enterprise - TIM Report - March 2005 (In German)
    - TIM Magazine-Dec.15.2004
    - Other TIM magazine articles about the project
- Rocket Designers Look To The Next Generation
- SKYLON - Reaction Engines
  - LAPCAT project
  - SABRE engine - SKYLON Engineering
  - History of HOTOL and Skylon
  - Sabre engine study:
- SpaceFleet
  - SF-01
- StarChaser
  - See RLV section 1
  - BBC News | Sci/Tech | Thunderbirds are go!
- SPL - Swiss Propulsion Laboratory - non-profit group, university based
  - XBow II - 2 stage reusable suborbital with lift-off-mass of ~1500kg, powered by LOX/kerosene engines on both stages.
  - XBow III - 3 stage reusable vehicle of placing small payload in LEO
- Vehra-SH - lifting body, airlaunched concept developed at Dassault Aviation
  - Vehra-SH Suborbital Manned Vehicle by J.-P. Haigneré, L. Gathier, P. Coué(pdf) presented at the IAC 2006 (International Astronautical Congress) meeting in Valencia, Spain.
  - Astronaut Club Europeen
- Rocket Camera Platforms - Aairborne Engineering
  - These rocket powered vehicles resemble those in the Lunar Lander Challenge in that they hover and are fully reusable.
- ESA Crew Vehicle - conventional capsule designs
  - ATV Evolution: is Europe ready? - The Space Review - May.19.08
India

Japan's RVT (Reusable Vehicle Test) rises vertically
a short distance and then returns for landing. From June 25, 2001.
Press release info available at Spaceref.com.

Japan
- Flying Vehicle technologies - ISAS
- LIFLEX - Lifting Body Flight Experiment
  - Japan prepares lifting body tests: Re-entry vehicle experiments planned for late next year - Flight International - Nov.21.06
- ISAS - RVT
  - Interview with Prof. Yoshifumi Inatani - head of the RVT project - Jan.04
  - Inatani Lab
  - Reusable Vehicle Testing - Wikipedia
  - Yoshifumi Inatani update - Dec.17.09
  - Development Status of Reusable Rocket Engine - Yoshida et al, 2008 (pdf)
  - Abstract: Test Results of Critical Elements for Reusable Rocket Engine, Yoshida et al, July.08 (pdf)
  - Videos:
    - RVT- 9 flight - Oct.25.03 - YouTube - the flight is brief but the 4 minute video shows up close examination of the vehicle afterwards and comments by Inatani
    - RVT-9 Flight - YouTube - from another viewpoint
  - It's high time for Japan to ride the space-tourism wave - Japan Times Series - Jan.14.07
  - "The Next Goal for Rockets" or "The World of the Swindler?" - ISAS/JAXA - March.2005
  - Research on Reusable Vehicles - Dr. Yoshifumi Inatani - JAXA - Nov.03
    - Flight video
  - Reusable Vehicle Flight Experiment at Noshiro Testing Center - JAXA - Nov.7.03.
  - Article in Japanese but with several diagrams and photos - Nov.03
  - Reusable Vehicle Test at Noshiro Testing Center - ISAS/JAXA - Oct.15.03
  - Flight Demonstration and a Concept for Readiness of Fully Reusable Rocket Vehicles by Yoshifumi Inatani - Space Future - discusses the history of the RVT and proposed follow-on vehicles.
  - Firing Test of Reusable Rocket Engine RVT-8 - ISAS - Feb.20.03
  - RVT, The Little Spacecraft That Could - Space Future Journal - May.15.02
  - Reusable Rocket Vehicle Test (RVT) - June.1.01 PR
  - Japan test flies RLV technology demonstrator - spacetoday.net - June.26.01
  - Space Tourism in the 21st Century: High Hopes, High Stakes - Space.com - June.29.01 - includes video of the test flight.
- RVT Successor - Reusable Sounding Rocket
  - Development Status of Reusable Rocket Engine - Yoshida et al, 2008 (pdf)
  - Abstract: Test Results of Critical Elements for Reusable Rocket Engine, Yoshida et al, July.08 (pdf)
  - Look out Jeff Bezos, here comes JAXA's reusable rocket! - Hyperbola - Apr.30.08
  - Ddiscussed by Hiroyuki Ogawa of JAXA during a session of the International Personal Spaceflight Symposium in Las Cruces, NM in October 2007.
  - CNET - Japan story - May.21.07 - translated
  - A Concept & Readiness To The Reusable Sounding Rocket - Yoshifumi Inatani - ISAS/JAXA - May.2007
  - Slides about the RVT and its successor - JAXA - translated version [link broken]
    - New vehicle would be 10.5m tall, 3m diameter, 8,857kg GTW, 2619kg dry mass. 4 31kN engines, 315sec specific impulse.
- National Aerospace Lab:
- JAXA
- Kankoh Maru
  - Japanese Rocket Society
  - Spacefuture
- PD Aerospace
  - Private company planning a sounding rocket and then manned suborbital
Korea
- C&Space - suborbital Proteus vehicle.
Russian/Soviet Reusable vehicles
- Russia hypersonics
- Russian Spaceplanes - Mark Wade's Spaceflight Encyclopedia
- NPO Molniya - reviews several Soviet/Russian RLV projects
- ACTS (Advanced Crew Transportation System)
  - Europe and Russia Join Forces to Study ACTS: Europe and Russia Join Forces to Study Advanced Crew Transportation System: Japan May also Contribute - Planetary Society - June.28.06
- Kliper - 6 person spacecraft to succeed Soyuz proposed by Russian Aerospace Agency and RKK Energia
- Parom "Ferry" - space tug
- ZAO - Aerospace Systems
  - Aerospace Systems : Projects : "Astronaut Wings" for 10,000 USD
- RLV Designs & Research
  - RLV Ajax
    - RLV Neva
- Angara - Mark Wade
- Fregat Upper Stage becomes reusable with the IRDT inflatable re-shield
  - Lavochkin Association
  - Lost Russian Spacecraft Is Recovered - Space.com - Feb.15.00
  - Fregat image at Space.com
- Myasishchev Design Bureau
  - Myasishchev Design Bureau at Wikipedia
  - Aerospace system (AKS) M-91 project
    - M-91 space tourism system
    - Myasishchev VM-T Atlant (jpg) - photo of the Atlant carrying a large tank
    - Photo (jpg)
    - More in Suborbital RLV section
  - Explorer - 5 seat airlaunched vehicle for space tourism
  - X PRIZE Project:
    - Cosmopolis XXI
    - RLV News:
    - C-21 - at Space Adventures
    - Space Adventures Unveils the Cosmopolis XXI, First Spacecraft Aimed at Tourism Trade - Space.com - Mar.14.02
    - Russia unveils tourists' spaceship - BBC - Mar.14.02
- Articles:
  - Russia Develops Mini-Vehicle for Space Travel - Russia-InfoCentre - June.29.08

RLV Supporting Technology
- Pad Abort Demonstration (PAD)
  - PAD at OSPNews
  - PAD Fact Sheets
  - PAD Artwork
  - Articles
    - Engine, Parachute Tests Pave Way For Launch Escape System - NASA - Dec.18.03
    - NASA Conducts Successful Pad Abort Demonstration - NASA - Nov.6.03
- Rocket Engine Technology:
  - Propulsion Systems & Propellents
  - Propulsion Companies
  - Aerospike
    - X-33 Aerospike engine in RLV History section Although, the X-33 program was canceled, the engine tests are considered a success. Aerospikes are ideal for SSTO since they provide efficient performance at ground atmospheric pressures all the way to vacuum conditions. However, SSTO development has been dropped by NASA in favor of 2 stage systems. In this case, each stage can have separate engines, each designed specifically for the conditions it will run under.
    - Aerospike at Aerospaceweb.org
    - Aerospike Nozzle - FAQ
    - Aerospike with hybrid motors - eAc
    - Aerospike Engine Flight Test Successful - NASA DFRC - Apr.19.04
      - NASA Dryden Aerospike Rocket Photo Collection
  - Hypersonics - ramjets & scramjets
    - RBCC - Rocket Based Combine Cycle
  - NASA Engine projects - NGLT (Next Generation Launch Technology) is taking over these projects previously under SLI
    - The Case For a Highly Evolved Version Of the Space Shuttle Main Engine - SpaceEquity - Feb.16.03
    - Rocket scientists dial up an old flame: kerosene : NASA, contractors consider fuel for next booster engines - Huntsville Times - Aug.30.02
    - New breed of auxiliary propulsion tested - Spaceflight Now - Apr.1.02
    - Candidate engines under development:
    - Fact Sheet: Main Engine Candidates for a Second Generation Reusable Launch Vehicle - SLI - Sept.02 (pdf)
    - NASA Next Generation Launch Technology (NGLT)
    - COBRA - Pratt & Whitney-Aerojet, hydrogen/oxygen engine (Canceled)
      - COBRA Engine Could Power the Next Generation Shuttle - Space.com - Sept.4.02
      - 600k lb thrust
    - RS-83 -Boeing hydrogen/oxygen engine
      - Boeing Rocketdyne Chooses Design for Next-Generation Reusable Rocket Engine - Boeing PR - Jan.28.02
      - 640,000lb thrust/10,000lb weight
    - RS-84 - Boeing kerosene/LOX (Canceled)
    - TR107 - Northrop kerosene/LOX
      - 1.0M lb thrust
    - For comparison, the Space shuttle main engine:
      - 400,000lb thrust/7,000lb weight
      - New engine should have a 100 mission life cycle vs 50 for SSME
  - Fastrac Engine
  - Fuels and Space Propellants for Reusable Launch Vehicles - NASA Glenn Research Center - SBIR Program.
  - H2O2
    - X-L Space Systems (hydrogen-peroxide.com)
    - Engine Work Begins For Air Force Space Engine - Aviation Week - May.12.01
  - Hydrogen vs Dense Fuels:
    - A LO2/Kerosene SSTO Rocket Design Study Mitchell Burnside-Clapp, Feb.1997.
  - Hybrid motors:
    - Manned Space Plane Motors by SpaceDev
  - Small Companies:
    - HMX - Gary Hudson et al
    - X-L Space Systems (hydrogen-peroxide.com)
    - See XCOR above
- Barber-Nichols:
  - Rocket Engine Turbopumps
- Composite Fuel Tanks & Other Structures
  - Successful Qualification of full-scale, all-composite cryogenic LOX tank opens the way to low-cost, responsive launch-on-demand - Microcosm - July.13.06 (pdf)
  - Microcosm Successfully Tests High-Pressure Composite Tanks For Helium And Liquid Oxygen - Microcosm - June.1.06
  - XCOR Aerospace Develops New Composite Material - XCOR/PRNewswire - Apr.6.06
  - RLV Work For NASA Has Application To Moon/Mars Mission, NG Says - Aviation Week - Jan.14.04
  - Northrop Grumman Delivers Composite Fuel Tank Half to NASA: Non-autoclave manufacturing process proven viable for making large, reusable fuel tanks - Northrop Grumman - Jan.12.04
  - Composite Liquid Oxygen Tank Passes Initial Proof Tests - Aviation Week - Aug.30.01
  - Pathfinder composite liquid oxygen tank successfully completes initial proof tests at Marshall Center - MSFC - Aug.30.01
  - Kimbo IV - first composite LOX tank actually to launch on a rocket. It flew on the Kimbo IV suborbital rocket in June of 2000. Tank built by Microcosm. Rocket built by Garvey Spacecraft, the Reaction Research Society and others.)
- Upper stages, i.e. for taking payloads to GEO:
  - Upper stage planned for XCOR Lynx
  - Upper stage planned for Scaled SpaceShipTwo
- Thermal Protection
- Other Technology
  - NASA Studying the Reuse of Spacecraft Software - Space News/Space.com - Apr.17.06
  - Electro-mechanical actuators show promise for second generation reusable launch vehicle propulsion system - NASA PR - Aug.7.01

Models: RLVs, rocketplanes, reusable space vehicles
- Fantastic Plastic
- Part Time Models
- Stratosphere Models - X-38 model
- X-15A-2 at Collectaire
- X-20 Dyna Soar at Collectaire
- Scratch modeling a SS1 at this Rocketry Forum thread.
RLV Related Simulations
- PRE-Flight Simulator. Download freeware PRE-Flight 2.00 from Simtel and SS1 Model from PreflightSim.com.
- X-Plane.org.
- Java applet at SpaceTethers.com.
- Orbiter freeware space simulator now includes some "addon" modules for the X-20 Dynasoar, HopeX, X-34 & X-38: ORBITER Image Gallery
RLV Shops
- See Rocket Companies in Shopping section.
Advanced Rocketry Competitions

Other RLV sections: