A comparison of selected air-breathing propulsion choices for an aerospace plane

This paper presents a comparison of three types of air-breathing rocket-based combined cycle propulsion systems for an advanced single stage-to-orbit aerospace plane. The propulsion systems include the NASA Access to Space (ATS) combined cycle engine, the Aerojet “strutjet” rocket-based combined cycle engine, and a proposed Russian AJAX MHD energy bypass rocket-based combined cycle engine. These propulsion systems are compared on the basis of performance and life cycle costs. The results indicate that the preferred choice based on performance is the AJAX MHD energy bypass rocket-based combined cycle energy bypass engine. No clear choice was indicated based on a life cycle cost comparison.