An affordable RBCC-powered 2-stage small orbital payload transportation systems concept based on test-proven hardware

Deriving from the initial planning activity of early 1965, which led to NASA’s Advanced Space Transportation Program (ASTP), an early-available airbreathing/rocket combined propulsion system powered “ultralight payload” launcher was defined at the conceptual design level. This system, named the “W Vehicle,” was targeted to be a “second generation” successor to the original Bantam Lifter class, all-rocket powered systems presently being pursued by NASA and a selected set of its contractors. While this all-rocket vehicle is predicated on a fully expendable approach, the W-Vehicle system was to be a fully reusable 2-stage vehicle. The general (original) goal of the Bantam class of launchers was to orbit a 100 kg payload for a recurring per-launch cost of less than one million dollars. Reusability, as the case for larger vehicles focusing on single stage to orbit (SSTO) configurations, is considered the principal key to affordability. In the general context of a range of space transports, covering the payload...