Vehicle and Mission Design of a Future Small Payload Launcher

This paper presents the conceptual design and performance analysis of a partially reusuable space launch vehicle for small payloads. The system uses a multi-stage vehicle with rocket engines, with a reusuable first stage capable of glided or powered flight, and expendable upper stage(s) to inject a 500 kg payload in different low Earth orbits. The space access vehicle is designed to be air-launched from a modified aircraft carrier. The aim of the system design is to develop a commercially viable launch system for near-term operation, thus emphasis is placed on the efficient use of high TRL technologies. The vehicle design are analysed using a multi-disciplinary design optimisation approach to evaluate the performance, operational capabilities and design trade-offs. A final design solution is presented showing the range of achievable orbits looking at maximising the altitude for injection into circular orbits at different inclinations