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New NASA Launcher Concept Offers Early Successor to Shuttle
A NASA study released at the end of 1986 defines a third US reusable launch vehicle. The Shuttle 2 vehicle would precede the air-breathing Aerospace Plane into service by several years, while offering substantially lower operating costs than the existing Shuttle. The Shuttle 2 studies suggest a single stage winged rocket powered vehicle capable of lifting a 20,000-40,000lb class payload to low orbit. While this is less than the Shuttle’s 65,000lb payload the new vehicle is expected to be able to lift a payload comparable to its dry weight, the Shuttle lifts approximately 10% of its dry weight.
NASA’s in house studies of the Shuttle 2 began prior to the loss of Challenger/Mission 51-L and the accident has had a major impact on the new vehicle. The halving of the original 24 Shuttle launches per year has extended projected fleet airframe life beyond 2010. With the relatively high cost per launch of the sixties technology Shuttle, a new vehicle may be required to cope with higher launch rates beyond 2000 purely on grounds of cost.
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