A completely reusable aerospace system based on subsonic carrier with the return of the first stages to the starting point

Abstract

The concept of aerospace system based on air launch from subsonic twin-fuselage aircraft and the rocket launch into orbit is investigated. The scheme of aerospace system trajectory providing a return to the starting point both of the carrier and the first rocket stage with liquid-fuel motors is proposed. It was shown that the use of subsonic carrier as a launching platform of the rocket system increases the payload mass by 1.2% of the rocket segment MTOW as compared to autonomous ground take-off. The comparative analysis of three versions of carrier aircraft and three fuel options at the first rocket stage was carried out. Analysis showed that compared to kerosene variant the hydrogen hypersonic booster makes it possible to significantly increase the payload mass while the launching costs stay the same.