Spaceplane: The Return of the Reusable Spacecraft

By Fouad Sabry

What Is Spaceplane

A vehicle that is capable of flying and gliding like an airplane while in the atmosphere of Earth and maneuvering like a spacecraft while in space is referred to as a spaceplane. In order to do this, spaceplanes need to include aspects of both aviation and spacecraft into their design. Sub-orbital spaceplanes often resemble fixed-wing aircraft more than orbital spaceplanes do, whereas orbital spaceplanes tend to be more analogous to conventional spacecraft. Rockets have been used to power every spaceplane that has ever flown, but gliders have been used to land them.

How You Will Benefit

(I) Insights, and validations about the following topics:

Chapter 1: Spaceplane

Chapter 2: Human spaceflight

Chapter 3: Buran programme

Chapter 4: Spacecraft

Chapter 5: Spaceflight

Chapter 6: Lifting body

Chapter 7: Human spaceflight programs

Chapter 8: Reusable launch system

Chapter 9: Boeing X-20 Dyna-Soar

Chapter 10: Lockheed Martin X-33

Chapter 11: Boeing X-37

Chapter 12: Dream Chaser

Chapter 13: Launch vehicle

Chapter 14: List of crewed spacecraft

Chapter 15: Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle

Chapter 16: Buran (spacecraft)

Chapter 17: USA-212

Chapter 18: Takeoff and landing

Chapter 19: XS-1 (spacecraft)

Chapter 20: Space Rider

Chapter 21: SNC Demo-1

(II) Answering the public top questions about spaceplane.

(III) Real world examples for the usage of spaceplane in many fields.

(IV) 17 appendices to explain, briefly, 266 emerging technologies in each industry to have 360-degree full understanding of spaceplane' technologies.

Who This Book Is For

Professionals, undergraduate and graduate students, enthusiasts, hobbyists, and those who want to go beyond basic knowledge or information for any kind of spaceplane.

• Language: English
• Publisher: One Billion Knowledgeable
• Release date: Oct 25, 2022

Book preview

Copyright

Spaceplane Copyright © 2022 by Fouad Sabry. All Rights Reserved.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

Cover designed by Fouad Sabry.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Bonus

You can send an email to [e-mail] with the subject line Spaceplane: The return of the reusable spacecraft, and you will receive an email which contains the first few chapters of this book.

Fouad Sabry

Visit 1BK website at

www.1BKOfficial.org

Preface

Why did I write this book?

The story of writing this book started on 1989, when I was a student in the Secondary School of Advanced Students.

It is remarkably like the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Schools, which are now available in many advanced countries.

STEM is a curriculum based on the idea of educating students in four specific disciplines — science, technology, engineering, and mathematics — in an interdisciplinary and applied approach. This term is typically used to address an education policy or a curriculum choice in schools. It has implications for workforce development, national security concerns and immigration policy.

There was a weekly class in the library, where each student is free to choose any book and read for 1 hour. The objective of the class is to encourage the students to read subjects other than the educational curriculum.

In the library, while I was looking at the books on the shelves, I noticed huge books, total of 5,000 pages in 5 parts. The books name is The Encyclopedia of Technology, which describes everything around us, from absolute zero to semiconductors, almost every technology, at that time, was explained with colorful illustrations and simple words. I started to read the encyclopedia, and of course, I was not able to finish it in the 1-hour weekly class.

So, I convinced my father to buy the encyclopedia. My father bought all the technology tools for me in the beginning of my life, the first computer and the first technology encyclopedia, and both have a great impact on myself and my career.

I have finished the entire encyclopedia in the same summer vacation of this year, and then I started to see how the universe works and to how to apply that knowledge to everyday problems.

My passion to the technology started mor than 30 years ago and still the journey goes on.

This book is part of The Encyclopedia of Emerging Technologies which is my attempt to give the readers the same amazing experience I had when I was in high school, but instead of 20th century technologies, I am more interested in the 21st century emerging technologies, applications, and industry solutions.

The Encyclopedia of Emerging Technologies will consist of 365 books, each book will be focused on one single emerging technology. You can read the list of emerging technologies and their categorization by industry in the part of Coming Soon, at the end of the book.

365 books to give the readers the chance to increase their knowledge on one single emerging technology every day within the course of one year period.

Introduction

How did I write this book?

In every book of The Encyclopedia of Emerging Technologies, I am trying to get instant, raw search insights, direct from the minds of the people, trying to answer their questions about the emerging technology.

There are 3 billion Google searches every day, and 20% of those have never been seen before. They are like a direct line to the people thoughts.

Sometimes that’s ‘How do I remove paper jam’. Other times, it is the wrenching fears and secret hankerings they would only ever dare share with Google.

In my pursuit to discover an untapped goldmine of content ideas about Spaceplane, I use many tools to listen into autocomplete data from search engines like Google, then quickly cranks out every useful phrase and question, the people are asking around the keyword Spaceplane.

It is a goldmine of people insight, I can use to create fresh, ultra-useful content, products, and services. The kind people, like you, really want.

People searches are the most important dataset ever collected on the human psyche. Therefore, this book is a live product, and constantly updated by more and more answers for new questions about Spaceplane, asked by people, just like you and me, wondering about this new emerging technology and would like to know more about it.

The approach for writing this book is to get a deeper level of understanding of how people search around Spaceplane, revealing questions and queries which I would not necessarily think off the top of my head, and answering these questions in super easy and digestible words, and to navigate the book around in a straightforward way.

So, when it comes to writing this book, I have ensured that it is as optimized and targeted as possible. This book purpose is helping the people to further understand and grow their knowledge about Spaceplane. I am trying to answer people’s questions as closely as possible and showing a lot more.

It is a fantastic, and beautiful way to explore questions and problems that the people have and answer them directly, and add insight, validation, and creativity to the content of the book – even pitches and proposals. The book uncovers rich, less crowded, and sometimes surprising areas of research demand I would not otherwise reach. There is no doubt that, it is expected to increase the knowledge of the potential readers’ minds, after reading the book using this approach.

I have applied a unique approach to make the content of this book always fresh. This approach depends on listening to the people minds, by using the search listening tools. This approach helped me to:

Meet the readers exactly where they are, so I can create relevant content that strikes a chord and drives more understanding to the topic.

Keep my finger firmly on the pulse, so I can get updates when people talk about this emerging technology in new ways, and monitor trends over time.

Uncover hidden treasures of questions need answers about the emerging technology to discover unexpected insights and hidden niches that boost the relevancy of the content and give it a winning edge.

The building block for writing this book include the following:

(1) I have stopped wasting the time on gutfeel and guesswork about the content wanted by the readers, filled the book content with what the people need and said goodbye to the endless content ideas based on speculations.

(2) I have made solid decisions, and taken fewer risks, to get front row seats to what people want to read and want to know — in real time — and use search data to make bold decisions, about which topics to include and which topics to exclude.

(3) I have streamlined my content production to identify content ideas without manually having to sift through individual opinions to save days and even weeks of time.

It is wonderful to help the people to increase their knowledge in a straightforward way by just answering their questions.

I think the approach of writing of this book is unique as it collates, and tracks the important questions being asked by the readers on search engines.

Acknowledgments

Writing a book is harder than I thought and more rewarding than I could have ever imagined. None of this would have been possible without the work completed by prestigious researchers, and I would like to acknowledge their efforts to increase the knowledge of the public about this emerging technology.

Dedication

To the enlightened, the ones who see things differently, and want the world to be better -- they are not fond of the status quo or the existing state. You can disagree with them too much, and you can argue with them even more, but you cannot ignore them, and you cannot underestimate them, because they always change things... they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones or amateur, others see genius and innovators, because the ones who are enlightened enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do, and lead the people to the enlightenment.

Epigraph

A vehicle that is capable of flying and gliding like an airplane while in the atmosphere of Earth and maneuvering like a spacecraft while in space is referred to as a spaceplane. In order to do this, spaceplanes need to include aspects of both aviation and spacecraft into their design. Sub-orbital spaceplanes often resemble fixed-wing aircraft more than orbital spaceplanes do, whereas orbital spaceplanes tend to be more analogous to conventional spacecraft. Rockets have been used to power every spaceplane that has ever flown, but gliders have been used to land them.

Table of Contents

Copyright

Bonus

Preface

Introduction

Acknowledgments

Dedication

Epigraph

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Spaceplane

Chapter 2: Human spaceflight

Chapter 3: Buran programme

Chapter 4: Spacecraft

Chapter 5: Spaceflight

Chapter 6: Lifting body

Chapter 7: Human spaceflight programs

Chapter 8: Reusable launch system

Chapter 9: Boeing X-20 Dyna-Soar

Chapter 10: Lockheed Martin X-33

Chapter 11: Boeing X-37

Chapter 12: Dream Chaser

Chapter 13: Launch vehicle

Chapter 14: List of crewed spacecraft

Chapter 15: Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle

Chapter 16: Buran (spacecraft)

Chapter 17: USA-212

Chapter 18: Takeoff and landing

Chapter 19: XS-1 (spacecraft)

Chapter 20: Space Rider

Chapter 21: SNC Demo-1

Epilogue

About the Author

Coming Soon

Appendices: Emerging Technologies in Each Industry

Chapter 1: Spaceplane

A vehicle that is capable of flying and gliding like an airplane while in the atmosphere of Earth and maneuvering like a spacecraft while in space is referred to as a spaceplane. In order to do this, spaceplanes need to include aspects of both aviation and spacecraft into their design. Sub-orbital spaceplanes often resemble fixed-wing aircraft more than orbital spaceplanes do, whereas orbital spaceplanes tend to be more analogous to conventional spacecraft. To this day, all spacecraft have been propelled into orbit by rockets but have glided back to Earth under their own power.

The Space Shuttle, the Buran, and the X-37 are the three kinds of spaceplanes that have been able to safely launch into orbit, reenter the atmosphere of Earth, and land successfully. Another one, titled Dream Chaser, is now in the works. As of the year 2019, every single orbital vehicle that has ever been, is being, or will ever be launched did so vertically on its own dedicated rocket. Space travel into orbit occurs at high velocities, with orbital kinetic energy generally being at least 50 times larger than those of suborbital paths. Due to the fact that this kinetic energy is lost in the form of heat upon reentry, substantial heat shielding is necessary. There have been many more proposals for spaceplanes, but none of them have yet attained flying status.

At least two suborbital rocket-powered aircraft have been launched horizontally into sub-orbital spaceflight from an airborne carrier aircraft before rocketing beyond the Kármán line: the X-15 and SpaceShipOne.

In addition to being able to function in space, just like other types of spacecraft, spaceplanes must also be able to fly in the atmosphere, just like regular airplanes. The complexity, danger, dry mass, and expense of spaceplane designs are all increased as a result of these constraints. The following parts will focus mostly on the United States Space Shuttle since it is the largest, most lethal, most complicated, most costly, most flown, and only crewed orbital spaceplane. However, several designs have been successfully tested in space.

Significant aerodynamic loads, vibrations, and accelerations are produced as a consequence of the flight trajectory necessary to achieve orbit. The vehicle structure must be able to withstand all of these forces in order to be successful.

In the event that the launch vehicle has a failure of catastrophic proportions, a launch escape mechanism will guide a conventional capsule spacecraft to a safe landing. Because of the Space Shuttle's enormous size and weight, this strategy was never going to work. As a consequence, a variety of emergency escape routes were developed, any one of which may have proved fatal. In any event, the Challenger accident proved that the Space Shuttle was not capable of surviving the ascent phase of its mission.

Once in orbit, a spaceplane has to be steered, maintained in thermal equilibrium, orientated, and communicated with. It does this by using solar panels, batteries, or fuel cells to generate electricity, which is then used to power onboard systems. The thermal and radioactive conditions that are present in orbit impose extra stressors. In addition to this, the spacecraft will carry out the mission for which it was launched, which may include the placement of satellites or the conduct of scientific investigations.

In order to perform orbital maneuvers, the Space Shuttle relied on specialized engines. These engines used hazardous hypergolic propellants, which needed additional safety measures to be taken while handling them. In composite overwrapped pressure vessels, various gases, such as helium for pressurization and nitrogen for life support, were kept under high pressure for storage.

When reentering Earth's atmosphere, spacecraft that have been orbiting the planet must lose a large amount of velocity, as a direct consequence, very high temperatures.

For example, the Space Shuttle thermal protection system (TPS) protects the orbiter's interior structure from surface temperatures that reach as high as 1,650 °C (3,000 °F), substantially above the temperature at which steel melts.

Suborbital spaceplanes navigate lower-energy paths, which alleviate some of the strain that would otherwise be placed on the thermal protection system of the spacecraft.

The malfunction of the TPS was the direct cause of the destruction of the Space Shuttle Columbia.

It is necessary to operate the aerodynamic control surfaces. Inclusion of landing gear is mandatory despite the accompanying increase in bulk.

It would be necessary for an air-breathing orbital spaceplane to navigate what is known as a depressed trajectory, which would keep the vehicle in the high-altitude hypersonic flight regime of the atmosphere for a considerable amount of time. This environment causes high dynamic pressure, high temperature, and high heat flow loads, especially upon the leading edge surfaces of the spaceplane. Because of this, the external surfaces of the spaceplane need to be manufactured from cutting-edge materials and/or use active cooling.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the United States operated a low Earth orbiting spacecraft system called the Space Shuttle from 1981 to 2011 as part of the Space Shuttle program. The Space Shuttle is now decommissioned and only partly recoverable. The acronym STS stood for Space Transportation System and was drawn from a proposal made in 1969 for a fleet of reusable spacecraft. The STS was the only component of the design to get funding for its development.

The Orbiter Vehicle (OV) of the Space Shuttle is comprised of three clustered Rocketdyne RS-25 main engines, a pair of recoverable solid rocket boosters (SRBs), and an expendable external tank (ET) that contains liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. Other components of the Space Shuttle include these. The Space Shuttle was launched vertically, like a typical rocket, with the two SRBs working in tandem with the orbiter's three main engines, which were fed by the ET. The ET was used as the source of fuel for all of the engines. The SRBs were released before the vehicle reached orbit, but the main engines continued to operate throughout the process. The ET was released after the main engines were turned off and just before orbit insertion, which was accomplished with the help of the orbiter's two Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) engines. After the completion of the mission, the OMS was activated on the orbiter so that it could deorbit and return to Earth's atmosphere. The thermal protection system tiles kept the orbiter safe during reentry, and it glided like a spaceplane to a runway landing, which was either at the Shuttle Landing Facility at KSC in Florida or at Rogers Dry Lake at Edwards Air Force Base in California. In the event that the orbiter landed at Edwards, it was transported back to the Kennedy Space Center atop the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), a specially adapted Boeing 747.

The first orbiter, the Enterprise, was constructed in 1976 and put to use in Approach and Landing Tests (ALT), but it was unable to get into orbit by itself. At the outset, construction included a total of four fully functional orbiters: Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, and Atlantis. Both the Challenger in 1986 and the Columbia in 2003 perished in tragic incidents during their respective missions, taking the lives of a combined total of 14 astronauts. Endeavour, the fifth operational orbiter (and the sixth overall), was constructed in 1991 in order to take the place of Challenger. After Atlantis completed its last flight on July 21, 2011, the three functioning vehicles that were still in existence were taken out of service and decommissioned. Since the last mission of the Space Shuttle in July 2011, until the launch of the Crew Dragon Demo-2 mission in May 2020, the United States has depended on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft to deliver humans to the International Space Station (ISS).

The Buran program (Russian: Буран, IPA: [bʊˈran], Snowstorm, Blizzard), also known as the VKK Space Orbiter programme (Russian: ВКК «Воздушно-Космический Корабль», lit. 'Air and Space Ship'), In addition to being the name given to the whole of the Soviet and Russian endeavor to develop a reusable spaceship, Orbiter K1 was also known by the name Buran at one point, It successfully completed one mission into space without anybody aboard in 1988 and was the first Soviet reusable spacecraft to be sent into space.

As a means of propulsion, the Expendable Energia rocket was used for the launches of Buran-class orbiters.

In common parlance, they are regarded as the Soviet Union's version of the Space Shuttle operated by the United States, However, in regard to the Buran project, Only the plane-shaped orbiter itself had any chance of being reused, in contrast to the Shuttle system's capacity to recycle solid rocket boosters.

The Soviet Union began the Buran program as a direct reaction to the Space Shuttle program that was run by the United States. Following its launch, the Buran program was successfully recovered. Although the Buran class spacecraft resembled the Space Shuttle orbiter in appearance and shared the Space Shuttle's capability to operate as a re-entry spaceplane, the Buran class's internal and functional architecture was significantly different. For instance, the spacecraft did not bring its primary engines into orbit with it since they were already installed aboard the Energia rocket before launch. Similar to the OMS pods on the Space Shuttle, smaller rocket engines mounted on the body of the vehicle supplied power during orbital maneuvers and de-orbital burns.

One example of a reusable robotic spacecraft is the Boeing X-37, which is often referred to as the Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV). After being propelled into space by a launch vehicle, it descends through the Earth's