Reusable Launch System

Contact Info Nate Palumbo Research Engineering Propulsion and Performance 661-276-3324 Nathan.M.Palumbo@nasa.gov

One of the biggest limitations to launching vehicles into space is the immense amount of fuel required to escape the earth's atmosphere. NASA is currently examining systems and mechanisms that could be constructed that would provide reliable, reusable, and safe acceleration enabling a craft to be launched into space. One such idea is Magnetic Levitation where a large track (perhaps up to 5 miles long) would accelerate a spacecraft to speeds necessary to escape. NASA is entertaining other ideas that would permit getting the relatively small payload of a space shuttle into space.

Related Resources

• Permeability Testing of Impacted Composite Laminates for Use on Reusable Launch Vehicles - Marshall Space Flight Center Technical Report
  
• NASA's Space Launch Initiative's Next Generation Reusable Launch Vehicle May Fly on Kerosene - Marshall Space Flight Center News Release
  
• Reusable Launch Vehicle Certification - Kennedy Space Center Technical Report
  
• NiAl Coatings Investigated for Use in Reusable Launch Vehicles - Glenn Research Center Research Report
  
• Reusable Launch Vehicle - NASA Scientific and Technical Information Site
  
• Fuels and Space Propellants for Reusable Launch Vehicles: A Small Business Innovation Research Topic and Its Commercial Vision - Glenn Research Center Research Report
  
• Tether Transportation System Study - Marshall Space Flight Center Technical Report

Keywords

Aircraft design; Aircraft systems; Development and testing; Energy management; Hypersonic flight; Propulsion; Reusable launch vehicles

Last Modified: November 8, 2004
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