VTVL
Encyclopedia
Takeoff and landing
Vehicles that can fly can have different ways to takeoff and land. Conventional aircraft accelerate along the ground until sufficient lift is generated for takeoff, and reverse the process to land. Some aircraft can takeoff at low speed, this a short takeoff. Some aircraft such as helicopters and...
using rockets (as opposed to vertical takeoff using the air which is known as VTOL
VTOL
A vertical take-off and landing aircraft is one that can hover, take off and land vertically. This classification includes fixed-wing aircraft as well as helicopters and other aircraft with powered rotors, such as cyclogyros/cyclocopters and tiltrotors...
). Multiple VTVL craft have flown. , at least five VTVL rocket vehicles are currently under development at four different aerospace companies. VTVL is often proposed for reusable rockets.
History
- VTVL rocket concepts were studied by Philip BonoPhilip BonoPhilip Bono was a Douglas Aircraft Company engineer. He was a pioneer of reusable vertical landing single-stage to orbit launch vehicles....
of Douglas Aircraft Co. in the 1960s. - Apollo Lunar ModuleApollo Lunar ModuleThe Apollo Lunar Module was the lander portion of the Apollo spacecraft built for the US Apollo program by Grumman to carry a crew of two from lunar orbit to the surface and back...
was a two-stage VTVL vehicle for landing and taking off from the moon. - The Soviet Union did some development work on, but never flew, a manned capsule called ZaryaZaryaZarya , also known as the Functional Cargo Block or FGB , was the first module of the International Space Station to be launched. The FGB provided electrical power, storage, propulsion, and guidance to the ISS during the initial stage of assembly...
in the late 1980s. - The McDonnell Douglas DC-XMcDonnell Douglas DC-XThe DC-X, short for Delta Clipper or Delta Clipper Experimental, was an unmanned prototype of a reusable single stage to orbit launch vehicle built by McDonnell Douglas in conjunction with the United States Department of Defense's Strategic Defense Initiative Organization from 1991 to 1993...
was an unmanned prototype launch VTVL vehicle that flew several test flights in the 1990s. - Rotary RocketRotary RocketRotary Rocket, Inc, was a rocketry company headquartered in a facility at Mojave Airport that developed the Roton concept in the late 1990s as a fully reusable single-stage-to-orbit manned spacecraft. Roton was intended to reduce costs of launching payloads into low earth orbit by a factor of...
successfully tested a vertical landing system for their Roton design, based around a rocket tipped helicopter system in 1999, but were unable to raise funds to build a full vehicle. - Recently, Armadillo AerospaceArmadillo AerospaceArmadillo Aerospace is an aerospace startup company based in Mesquite, Texas. Its initial goal is to build a manned suborbital spacecraft capable of space tourism, but it has stated long-term ambitions of orbital spaceflight. The company was founded by John Carmack.On October 24, 2008, Armadillo...
's Scorpius / Super Mod, Masten Space SystemsMasten Space SystemsMasten Space Systems is an aerospace startup company in Mojave, California that is developing a line of vertical takeoff, vertical landing spacecraft, initially for unmanned suborbital research flights and eventually intended to support unmanned orbital launches.- Overview :Masten Space Systems...
' Xombie and Unreasonable Rocket's Blue Ball flying VTVL rockets competed in the Northrop Grumman / NASA Lunar Lander Challenge. Follow-on VTVL designs including Masten's Xaero and Armadillo's Stig are aimed at higher-speed flight to higher suborbital altitudes. - SpaceXSpaceXSpace Exploration Technologies Corporation, or more popularly and informally known as SpaceX, is an American space transport company that operates out of Hawthorne, California...
plans to eventually install deployable landing gear on the Dragon spacecraft and use the vehicle's thrusters to perform a land-based landing. - Three VTVL craft have been proffered to NASA in response to NASA's suborbital reusable launch vehicle (sRLV) solicitation under NASA's Flight Operations Program: the Blue OriginBlue OriginBlue Origin is a privately funded aerospace company set up by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos. The company was awarded $3.7 million in funding in 2009 by NASA via a Space Act Agreement under the Commercial Crew Development program for development of concepts and technologies to support future human...
New ShepardBlue Origin New ShepardThe Blue Origin New Shepard reusable launch vehicle is a vertical-takeoff, vertical-landing , suborbital manned rocket that is being developed by Blue Origin, a company owned by Amazon.com founder and businessman Jeff Bezos, as a commercial system for suborbital space tourism.The New Shepard makes...
, the MastenMasten Space SystemsMasten Space Systems is an aerospace startup company in Mojave, California that is developing a line of vertical takeoff, vertical landing spacecraft, initially for unmanned suborbital research flights and eventually intended to support unmanned orbital launches.- Overview :Masten Space Systems...
Xaero, and the ArmadilloArmadillo AerospaceArmadillo Aerospace is an aerospace startup company based in Mesquite, Texas. Its initial goal is to build a manned suborbital spacecraft capable of space tourism, but it has stated long-term ambitions of orbital spaceflight. The company was founded by John Carmack.On October 24, 2008, Armadillo...
Super Mod. - SpaceX announced in September 2011 that they would attempt to develop powered descent and recovery of both Falcon 9Falcon 9Falcon 9 is a rocket-powered spaceflight launch system designed and manufactured by SpaceX. Both stages of its two-stage-to-orbit vehicle use liquid oxygen and rocket-grade kerosene propellants...
stages, with a VTVL DragonDragon (spacecraft)The Dragon is a reusable spacecraft developed by SpaceX, a private space transportation company based in Hawthorne, California. During its unmanned maiden flight in December 2010, it became the first commercially-built and -operated spacecraft to ever be successfully recovered from orbit.The Dragon...
capsule as well.
See also
- Reusable Vehicle TestingReusable Vehicle TestingThe Reusable Vehicle Testing project was conducted by the Japanese Space Agency from 1998 until 2003. The project involved a series of experimental vehicles to test repeated flights of a reusable rocket. Four complete vehicles were developed during the project...
- Quad (rocket)Quad (rocket)In rocketry, the Armadillo aerospace Quad vehicle is a computer controlled VTVL rocket that is used to compete in the Lunar Lander Challenge.-General description:...
- Kankoh-maruKankoh-maruThe is the name of a proposed vertical takeoff and landing, single-stage to orbit, reusable launch vehicle family of rockets, and the spacecraft tour vehicle designed to be boosted by said rocket.-Details:...
— VTVL - VTOLVTOLA vertical take-off and landing aircraft is one that can hover, take off and land vertically. This classification includes fixed-wing aircraft as well as helicopters and other aircraft with powered rotors, such as cyclogyros/cyclocopters and tiltrotors...
External links
- Astronautix.com list of VTVL rocket concepts from the past
- Hobbyspace.com development of VTVL rockets around the world