[AR] Re: Size question
- From: Henry Spencer <hspencer@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: Arocket List <arocket@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 31 May 2016 23:52:57 -0400 (EDT)
On Tue, 31 May 2016, qbert@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
Ok, if you can do that with an Aerobee,
Would it not be possible to take a Black Brant 12, and instead of
lofting it to 1500km use it as a booster to launch a 5th powered, "orbit
insertion" stage into LEO.
Oh, undoubtedly something like that could be done, with some work. Might
need smarter guidance -- most of the Black Brants were at least partly
spin-stabilized. But the principle is certainly workable.
The Lambda 4S was basically done that way: stack solid-fuel sounding
rockets together until you have the necessary performance, and add a
guidance system to despin the final stage, point it the right way, spin it
up again, and fire it.
For that matter, the quite successful Scout launcher was also the same
idea, in a somewhat larger form (the first-stage motor was more or less a
Polaris derivative).
There were quite a number of proposals, over the years, to stretch the
Black Brant family into a small orbital launcher. All foundered on the
combination of sizable costs and shortage of customers.
Henry
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