What is it about?
This study delves into Reusable Launch Vehicle concepts, utilizing Advanced Nozzles alongside Mission Analysis, Multi-disciplinary Optimization, and Guidance-Navigation-Control tools. It evaluates Mission and Recovery Capabilities for a modified version of RETALT1, a European VTVL-RLV concept inspired by Space X's Falcon 9, now equipped with an annular aerospike engine. Collaboration between TU Dresden, Politecnico di Torino and Deimos Space yields a novel architecture for the aerospike engine, tailored for landing manoeuvres via retro-propulsion.
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Why is it important?
Comparative analysis with the original RETALT1 concept sheds light on the annular aerospike's applicability, considering its impact on design parameters, mission constraints, performance gains, propellant consumption, trajectory optimization, and vertical-landing manoeuvres.
Perspectives
The results are quite encouraging and, together with the definition of a multi-disciplinary methodology of investigation and the identification of research questions still to be addressed, they provide a basis for future research in the topic of aerospike engines for a heavy-lift class of reusable launch vehicles.
Giuseppe Scarlatella
Technische Universitat Dresden
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Assessment of Mission Capabilities of a Reusable Heavy-lift Launch Vehicle Concept with Aerospike Engine, January 2024, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA),
DOI: 10.2514/6.2024-2122.
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