A prototype of a new type of rocket could give the US Air Force a round-trip ticket to space by 2013
The United States Air Force has a vision for the future in the form of a project that implies the emergence of missiles not only reusable, but also that they can fly back to Earth and land on runways completely autonomously.
Currently, most US military satellites are launched one-time using rockets such as Atlas 5 and Delta 4 (in Russia, Proton-M, Soyuz-U, Soyuz-FG). The task of recycling reusable boosters installed on spacecraft is not an easy one. Two minutes after the launch, solid-propellant missiles are parachuted down into the ocean, where they are picked up by a ship. Making them flyable again is time consuming and costly.
The Air Force Research Laboratory is proposing a $ 33 million innovation program to develop a prototype rocket capable of returning to the launch site.
The first step of the program is likely to be aimed at demonstrating a return maneuver, where the rocket will use its own engines when returning to the launch pad and gliding upon landing.
The first flight tests are scheduled for 2013.
NASA studied reversal launch vehicles more than 10 years ago as part of a spacecraft modernization program, but never deeply developed them.
Currently, two companies already have patents for reversal launch vehicles: Lockheed Martin, which tested a prototype reversal launch vehicle in 2008 without any publicity, and Starcraft Boosters, founded by astronaut Buzz Aldrin, to develop inexpensive alternative launch vehicles.
