[AR] Re: Radian One spaceplane
- From: Henry Spencer <hspencer@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: Arocket List <arocket@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2022 18:02:55 -0500 (EST)
On Fri, 21 Jan 2022, Uwe Klein wrote:
It does mean kicking the payload out *immediately* on achieving orbit,
but there's nothing fundamentally wrong with that,
If you actually _achieve orbit_ with the "truck" there is no pressure to
return by turning on your heel.
There's actually not a lot of time between orbit insertion and the right
time to do a retrofire burn for a one-orbit flight. Oh, it doesn't
require split-second timing, but the available quiet time in orbit is
measured in minutes, not hours.
cross range requirement should be ~~longitude displacement for that 3/4
orbit?
It's pretty much a full orbit by the time you're down. For a near-polar
orbit, where the Earth's rotation is pretty much at right angles to the
orbit track, it's about 22deg of longitude, which translates to 2000+ km
unless you have a high-latitude base. For lower inclinations, the Earth
rotates the same amount, but because the orbit track is at an angle to the
motion of the launch site, waiting slightly longer gets you closer, so the
crossrange requirement is reduced. Nothing short of an equatorial orbit
is going to get it really low, though.
Henry
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