Staging of Two-Stage-to-Orbit Aerospace Plane

Abstract

At staging of the Two-Stage-to-Orbit aerospace plane, the engine is in the shutdown condition and the intake is in the unstarted condition. Given these conditions, the effect of drag due to the unstarted engine on the flight trajectory was investigated. Then, the effect of the engine operating condition on the pitching moment of the first-stage vehicle was examined. The net drag increased with unstarted intake, and the horizontal distance between the vehicles became larger. The change of the engine operating condition by shutdown affected the pitching moment of the first-stage vehicle.

Trajectory Optimisation of a Partially-Reusable Rocket-Scramjet-Rocket Small Satellite Launch System

“…This stage separation often occurs in-atmosphere, at relatively low trajectory angles, and is a key factor in the design of each stage. This separation also results in vehicle-vehicle aerodynamic interactions between the stages of the launch system as they separate, inducing aerodynamic forces and moments on the stages of the launch system that are significantly different to the nominal flight regime of each stage, and will need to be carefully studied and mitigated for a launch system of this type to be feasible [184,185]. These separation effects are not generally taken into account in the early stages of launch vehicle conceptualisation, as they can be considered as secondary to an overall trajectory-based concept analysis, sizing, and optimisation in the early stages of design.…”