[ExI] darpa's notion of using a retrofitted fighter jet to launch payloads

[BillK]

On 9 February 2015 at 19:13, justin corwin  wrote:
> I don't think I've ever seen a setup with engines mounted so high on the
> fuselage, is there an engine/reference design that could be used for that?
> The artist seemed to have some very specific details one wouldn't just
> assume.
>

It is a new design for small rockets launched from aircraft.

There is a good review here:
<http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2543/1>
Quote:
Boeing plans to take a unique approach with the ALASA launch vehicle
that is also intended to lower complexity and thus costs. The rocket
will be powered by a monopropellant: a combination of nitrous oxide
and acetelyene, mixed together in the same propellant tank and
"slightly chilled" below room temperature, Clapp said. That propellant
choice offers simplicity as well as a specific impluse "not far off"
from LOX and RP-1. "That's kind of a big deal," he said. "In general,
it's a dramatic simplification of the complexity of a rocket vehicle."

The rocket's design is also unusual, mounting four engines just below
the payload on the vehicle. The engines are used for the first and
second stages of the rocket, with propellant tanks below the engines
dropping away when exhausted. This approach avoids the expense and
complexity of separate sets of engines for the first two stages.
-------------

BillK