328:. This was theoretically a good way to survive reentry, particularly for a lightweight reusable vehicle. However, using water as a coolant would require converting it into superheated steam, at high temperatures and pressures, and there were concerns about micrometeorite damage on orbit puncturing the pressure vessel, causing the reentry shield to fail. These concerns were resolved using a failure-resistant massively redundant flow system, created using thin metal sheets chemically etched with a pattern of micropores forming a channel system that was robust against failure and damage.
332:
to be extremely reliable, giving one drop per second per square inch, and was achieved via a trial/error design approach on real hardware. By the end of the Roton program, some hardware had been built and tested. The reentry trajectory was to be trimmed, similar to the Soyuz, to minimize the G loads on the passengers. And the ballistic coefficient was better for the Roton and could be better tailored. When the Soyuz trim system failed and it went full ballistic, the G levels did rise significantly but without incident to the passengers.
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heated piece of hardware to one that either had to be actively cooled or made of SiC or other refractory material. The idea of popping out the blades became much more attractive at this point, and initial studies were made for that option. This rotor design concept was not without precedent. In 1955, one of five
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A fourth test was planned to simulate a full autorotative descent. The ATV would climb to an altitude 10,000 ft (3,050 m) under its own power, before throttling back and returning for a soft landing. At this point, given that further funding was then unlikely, safety considerations prevented the
331:
In addition, cooling was achieved two different ways; one way was the vaporization of the water, but the second was even more significant, and was due to the creation of a layer of "cool" steam surrounding the base surface, reducing the ability to heat. Further, the water metering system would have
443:
The ATV made its first flight on July 28. This flight consisted of three vertical hops totaling 4 min 40 sec in duration and reaching a maximum altitude of 8 ft (2.4 m). The pilots found the flying extremely challenging for a number of reasons. Visibility in the cockpit was so restricted that
388:
At the same time as this change, the company laid off about a third of its employees, lowering approximate headcount from 60 to 40. At this point, the company planned to begin its commercial launch service sometime in 2001. Although the company had raised $ 30 million, it still needed to raise an
270:
concept was a cone-shaped launch vehicle, with a helicopter rotor on top for use only during landing. An internal cargo bay could be used both for carrying payloads to orbit and bringing others back to Earth. The projected price to orbit of this design was given as $ 1,000 per kg of payload, less
352:
The initial plan was to have them almost vertical, but that was found to be unstable as they needed to drop lower and lower and spin faster for stability, the heating rates went up dramatically and the air flow became more head on. The implication of that was that the blades went from a lightly
448:. The view of the ground was entirely obstructed, so the pilots had to rely on a sonar altimeter to judge ground proximity. The entire craft had a low rotational inertia, and torque from the spinning rotor blades made the body spin, unless counteracted by yaw thrust in the opposite direction.
293:
In addition, the rotating exhaust acted as a wall at the outer edge of the engine base, lowering the temperature of the base to below ambient due to ejector pump effect and creating a suction cup at the bottom in atmosphere. This could be alleviated using makeup gas to develop base pressure,
478:
The Rotary Rocket did fly three test flights and a composite propellant tank survived a full test program, however these tests revealed problems. For instance, the ATV demonstrated that landing the Rotary Rocket was tricky, even dangerous. Test pilots have a rating system, the
483:, for vehicles between 1 and 10 that relates to difficulty to pilot. The Roton ATV scored a 10 — the vehicle simulator was found to be almost unflyable by anyone except the Rotary test pilots, and even then there were short periods where the vehicle was out of control.
247:) by approximately 20–30 seconds, essentially only carrying the blades into orbit "for free". Thus, there was no overall gain from this method during ascent. However, the blades could be used to soft land the vehicle, so its landing system carried no additional cost.
538:
failed when the Roton began to oscillate at airspeeds above 35 knots (65 km/h). Instead, the vehicle was kept at Mojave, and on
November 10, 2006, the Roton was moved to its permanent display location at the intersection of Airport Blvd and Sabovich Road.
348:
such as the Space
Shuttle had to make it back to the runway. The rotor blades were to be powered by peroxide tip rockets. The rotor blades were to be deployed before reentry; some questions were raised about whether the blades would survive until landing.
409:
for use in hover test flights. The $ 2.8 million ATV was not intended as an all-up test article, since it had no rocket engine and no heat shielding. The ATV was rolled out of its Mojave hangar on March 1, 1999, bearing an FAA registry of N990RR.
451:
The second flight, on
September 16, was a continuous hover flight lasting 2 min 30 sec, reaching a maximum altitude of 20 ft (6.1 m). The sustained flight was made possible by the installation of more powerful rotor tip thrusters and an
282:) to pump fuel and oxidizer to the rim by the rotation. Unlike the landing rotor, due to the shallow angle of the nozzles in the base rotor, the rotation speed self limited and required no control system. Since the density of the LOX (
385:, instead of the company's own unconventional spinning engine design. Reportedly, the company had been unable to convince investors that its engine design was viable; the composite structure and gyrocopter reentry was an easier sell.
343:
for landing, rather than wings or parachutes. This concept allowed controlled landings (unlike parachutes), and it was 1/5 the weight of fixed wings. Another advantage was that a helicopter could land almost anywhere, whereas winged
229:, would lift the vehicle in the earliest stage of launch. Once the air density thinned to the point that helicopter flight was impractical, the vehicle would continue its ascent on pure rocket power, with the rotor acting as a giant
173:, at the same airport, while the company developed the novel engine design and helicopter-like landing system. A full-scale test vehicle made three hover flights in 1999, but the company exhausted its funds and closed in early 2001.
486:
Other aspects of the flight plan remained unproven and it is unknown whether Roton could have developed sufficient performance to reach orbit with a single stage, and return – although on paper this might have been possible.
463:, covering 4,300 ft (1,310 m) in its flight and rising to a maximum altitude of 75 ft (23 m). The speed was as high as 53 mph (85 km/h). This test revealed some instability in translational flight.
309:) around the rim of the base of the vehicle, which gained the vehicle extra thrust at high altitude – acting as a zero-length truncated aerospike nozzle. A similar system with non-rotating engines was studied for the
286:) was higher than that of the kerosene, extra pressure was available with the LOX, so it would have been used to cool the engine's throat and other components, rather than using the kerosene as the coolant as in a
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designs for planned suborbital piloted missions was to include rocket-tipped rotors as its landing system. On May 1, 1958 these plans were dropped as a decision was made to proceed directly to orbital flights.
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One problem found during research at Rotary was that once the vehicle left the atmosphere additional thrust would be necessary. Thus multiple engines would be needed at the base as well as at the rotor tips.
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in general was experiencing financial stress. Ultimately, the company did not attract sufficient funding – even though numerous individuals provided a total of $ 33 million of support, including writer
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However, at the high G levels at the outer edge of the rotating engine block, clarity on how LOX would work as a coolant was both unknown and difficult to validate. That added one layer of risk.
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Engine development ceased in 2000, reportedly two weeks before a full-scale test was due. The vehicle failed to secure launch contracts and Rotary Rocket closed in 2001.
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This initial version of the Roton had been designed with the small communications satellite market in mind. However, this market crashed, signaled by the failure of
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313:. That application had a much smaller base area, and did not create the suction effect a larger peripheral engine induces. The Roton engine had a projected vacuum
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were joined by co-founders
Frederick Giarrusso, Dan DeLong, James Grote, Tom Brosz, and Anne Hudson, who together launched the company in October 1996.
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LOX tank. It survived a test program which involved it being pressure cycled and ultimately deliberately shot to test its ignition sensitivity.
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of ~355 seconds (3.48 km/s), which is very high for a LOX/kerosene engine –and a thrust to weight ratio of 150, which is extremely light.
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146:. In 1996, Rotary Rocket Company was formed to commercialize the concept. The Roton was intended to reduce costs of launching payloads into
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than one-tenth of the then-current launch price. Payload capacity was limited to a relatively modest 6,000 pounds (2,700 kg).
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requiring an additional rocket engine to fill up the base of the main rocket engine. (Similar problems would have occurred in a
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jet, as intended for the orbital vehicle. The rotor assemblage was tested in a rock quarry before installation on the ATV.
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Rotary Rocket failed due to lack of funding, but some have suggested that the design itself was inherently flawed.
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to write an article on the concept. The resulting article resulted in a commitment of funding from billionaire
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Gary Hudson's and Bevin McKinney's initial concept was to merge a launch vehicle with a helicopter: spinning
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had been thinking about the idea of a launch vehicle using helicopter blades for several years, when
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The ATV's cockpit was nicknamed the 'Batcave' by its pilots because of its restricted field of view.
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909:
They All
Laughed At Christopher Columbus: An Incurable Dreamer Builds the First Civilian Spaceship
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A full size, 63 ft (19 m) tall, Atmospheric Test
Vehicle (ATV) was built under contract by
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QuickTime footage of final test flight of Roton ATV, from the Air&Space
Magazine website
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The ATV flew three successful test flights in 1999. The pilot for these three flights was
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503:, as seen in 2005. The taller hangar on the left was the Rotary Rocket Assembly Building.
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The third and last flight was made on
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and opened a factory headquartered in a 45,000-square-foot (4,200 m) facility at
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682:"Rotary Rocket Unveils New RLV Design Major Investor Tom Clancy Becomes a Director"
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Rotary Rocket designed and pressure-tested an exceptionally lightweight but strong
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840:
Rotary Rocket
Unveils New RLV Design Major Investor Tom Clancy Becomes a Director
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Calculations showed that the helicopter blades modestly increased the effective
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At the rim, 96 miniature jets would exhaust the burning propellants (LOX and
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In June 1999, Rotary Rocket announced that it would use a derivative of the
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63:
142:. The design was initially conceived by Bevin McKinney, who shared it with
904:, March, 2002. The test pilot of the ATV describes the three test flights.
278:: the engine and base of the launch vehicle would spin at high speed (720
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as the makeup gas would have largely alleviated the problem "for free.")
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911:. Bantam, 2003. An insider's view of the development of Rotary Rocket.
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684:(Press release). Rotary Rocket Co. July 21, 2014. Archived from
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The revised version would have used a unique rotating annular
644:, a helicopter with ramjets mounted on the rotor blade tips.
196:, which was combined with an initial investment from author
894:, March, 1998. A look at the early design of Rotary Rocket.
735:
Dornheim, Michael A., "Rotary Cuts Staff, Changes Engine."
722:
Dornheim, Michael A., "Rotary Cuts Staff, Changes Engine."
958:
Tom Brosz's personal account of Rotary Rocket and fallout
51:
The Rotary Rocket Roton ATV on permanent display at the
324:
During reentry, the base also served as a water-cooled
432:(who later gained fame as pilot of Scaled Composites'
748:
Dornheim, Michael A., "Roton Test Craft Rolled Out."
604:, 6,950 lbf (30.9 kN) thrust each in vacuum
968:
Photos of the project from the Mojave
Virtual Museum
526:
The Atmospheric Test Vehicle was to be displayed at
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335:The vehicle was also unique in planning to use its
298:, but there, natural recirculation plus use of the
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542:The Rotary Rocket hangars are now occupied by the
389:additional $ 120 million before entering service.
761:Dornheim, Michael A., "Roton Hops Off Ground."
510:The timing of the venture was unfortunate: the
890:Petit, Charles, "Rockets for the Rest of Us."
169:. The fuselage for their vehicles was made by
134:concept in the late 1990s as a fully reusable
1666:
1000:
948:Archives of original rotaryrocket.com website
670:Wired - Insanely Great? or Just Plain Insane?
8:
2517:(vice president/general manager, test pilot)
1682:Rutan Aircraft Factory and Scaled Composites
30:
2529:(director of flight operations, test pilot)
825:: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (
413:The rotor head was salvaged from a crashed
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1417:Chinese reusable experimental spacecraft
570:7,000 lb (3,200 kg) of payload
514:venture was nearing bankruptcy, and the
200:and allowed the company to get started.
665:
663:
659:
631:120 mi (190 km, 100 nmi)
973:Photos from the unveiling of the Roton
818:
7:
789:Aviation Week & Space Technology
776:Aviation Week & Space Technology
763:Aviation Week & Space Technology
750:Aviation Week & Space Technology
737:Aviation Week & Space Technology
724:Aviation Week & Space Technology
710:Aviation Week & Space Technology
938:Space.com on helicopter museum trip
902:Air&Space/Smithsonian Magazine
900:, "I Survived the Rotary Rocket."
892:Air&Space/Smithsonian Magazine
153:The company gathered considerable
25:
787:"Roton Achieves Forward Flight."
707:Anselmo, Joseph C., "Rotarians."
594:372,500 lb (169,000 kg)
588:400,000 lb (181,437 kg)
300:turbopump gas-generator's exhaust
288:conventional LOX/kerosene rocket.
2617:Proposed reusable launch systems
99:Frederick Giarrusso (CFO, board)
2647:Cancelled space launch vehicles
774:Smith, Bruce A., "Roton Test."
1860:Rocketcraft (as subcontractor)
851:Rotary Rocket - Specifications
393:Atmospheric Test Vehicle (ATV)
1:
2652:Defunct spaceflight companies
2597:Private spaceflight companies
499:The Rotary Rocket Hangars at
296:conventional aerospike engine
2535:(SpaceShipOne sole investor)
698:United States Patent 5842665
444:the pilots nicknamed it the
383:Marshall Space Flight Center
377:engine under development at
1778:Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer
1756:Aircraft (as subcontractor)
1551:Ya Guidao Gainian Feixingqi
530:, a helicopter museum near
266:The revised and redesigned
130:company that developed the
96:Bevin McKinney (CTO, board)
2668:
791:, October 25, 1999, p. 40.
778:, October 11, 1999, p. 21.
610:340 s (3.3 km/s)
544:National Test Pilot School
481:Cooper-Harper rating scale
2587:Mojave Air and Space Port
2031:Mojave Aerospace Ventures
2021:
1633:
1400:
1389:
1037:
1026:
929:Space.com on test flights
765:, August 12, 1999, p. 36.
713:, October 5, 1998, p. 17.
501:Mojave Air and Space Port
461:Mojave Air and Space Port
163:Mojave Air and Space Port
44:
35:
2563:35.055321°N 118.158375°W
1802:Technology demonstrators
550:Roton C-9 specifications
92:Gary Hudson (CEO, board)
2622:Rocket-powered aircraft
1944:Spirit of Steve Fossett
1690:Aircraft (main designs)
1684:aircraft and spacecraft
1343:Reusable Booster System
1333:Liquid Fly-back Booster
1016:Reusable launch systems
752:, March 8, 1999, p. 40.
739:, June 28, 1999, p. 44.
726:, June 28, 1999, p. 44.
582:22 ft (6.7 m)
561:General characteristics
471:Criticism of the design
2602:Commercial spaceflight
2568:35.055321; -118.158375
1867:McDonnell Douglas DC-X
1546:Goodyear Meteor Junior
1080:(orbiter and boosters)
600:72 × Rotary RocketJet
576:64 ft (20 m)
512:Iridium Communications
504:
467:test being attempted.
402:
256:Iridium Communications
2612:Single-stage-to-orbit
2523:(manager, test pilot)
2026:The Spaceship Company
1473:Space Shuttle orbiter
803:"Roton Rotary Rocket"
532:San Diego, California
528:Classic Rotors Museum
498:
400:
262:Helicopter from orbit
136:single-stage-to-orbit
124:Rotary Rocket Company
104:Walt Anderson (board)
31:Rotary Rocket Company
2642:Cancelled spacecraft
898:Sarigul-Klijn, Marti
801:x0av6 (2016-11-11).
688:on December 7, 2014.
428:and the copilot was
150:by a factor of ten.
2559: /
1881:Spaceflight program
1444:Buran-class orbiter
1285:Energia II (Uragan)
876:on August 20, 2016.
426:Marti Sarigul-Klijn
217:Helicopter to orbit
32:
2505:(former president)
1182:Rocket Lab Neutron
978:2014-12-22 at the
856:2006-09-08 at the
807:AeroSpaceGuide.net
505:
403:
319:(specific impulse)
167:Mojave, California
108:Tom Clancy (board)
2632:Scaled Composites
2542:
2541:
2039:
2038:
1783:Williams V-Jet II
1648:
1647:
1629:
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1512:Orel (spacecraft)
1385:
1384:
1381:
1380:
1193:Starship (SpaceX)
917:978-0-553-38236-5
907:Weil, Elizabeth,
608:Specific impulse:
419:hydrogen peroxide
407:Scaled Composites
171:Scaled Composites
121:
120:
101:Anne Hudson (CAO)
16:(Redirected from
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1962:Stratolaunch Roc
1929:White Knight Two
1900:White Knight One
1888:Programs / Ships
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1495:Boeing Starliner
1402:
1391:
1198:Stoke Space Nova
1147:8R (first stage)
1144:6X (first stage)
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952:Internet Archive
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872:. Archived from
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980:Wayback Machine
963:Roton C-9 specs
954:Wayback Machine
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858:Wayback Machine
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155:venture capital
148:low Earth orbit
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1972:Ansari X Prize
1968:
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1965:
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1957:SpaceShipThree
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1488:In development
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1242:Saturn-Shuttle
1239:
1234:
1228:
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1222:
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1195:
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1100:In development
1097:
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1032:Launch systems
1031:
1024:
1023:
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989:
983:
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965:
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923:External links
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602:rocket engines
595:
592:Fuel capacity:
589:
583:
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551:
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516:space industry
492:
489:
472:
469:
436:on its second
394:
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370:
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316:
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182:Bevin McKinney
178:
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138:(SSTO) crewed
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2044:Model numbers
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1873:
1872:Rotary Rocket
1870:
1868:
1865:
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1793:X-47A Pegasus
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1288:
1286:
1283:
1281:
1280:Chang Cheng-1
1278:
1275:
1272:
1270:(first stage)
1269:
1266:
1264:
1261:
1259:
1256:
1255:
1253:
1249:
1243:
1240:
1238:
1235:
1233:
1230:
1229:
1227:
1223:
1216:
1213:
1211:(first stage)
1210:
1207:
1205:(first stage)
1204:
1201:
1199:
1196:
1194:
1191:
1189:
1186:
1184:(first stage)
1183:
1180:
1178:
1175:
1173:(first stage)
1172:
1169:
1167:(first stage)
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1163:
1161:(first stage)
1160:
1157:
1155:(first stage)
1154:
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1136:(first stage)
1135:
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1130:(first stage)
1129:
1126:
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1116:
1114:
1111:
1109:(first stage)
1108:
1105:
1104:
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1098:
1091:
1088:
1085:
1082:
1079:
1078:Space Shuttle
1076:
1075:
1073:
1069:
1062:
1059:
1057:(core stages)
1056:
1053:
1051:(first stage)
1050:
1047:
1046:
1044:
1040:
1036:
1029:
1025:
1021:
1017:
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936:
934:
933:archived copy
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642:Hiller Hornet
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627:
626:
625:
623:
615:
612:
609:
606:
603:
599:
596:
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587:
586:Gross weight:
584:
581:
578:
575:
572:
569:
566:
565:
564:
562:
557:
556:
549:
547:
545:
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537:
536:CH-47 Chinook
533:
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524:
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508:
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497:
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427:
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420:
416:
415:Sikorsky S-58
411:
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368:
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356:
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342:
338:
333:
329:
327:
322:
320:
312:
308:
303:
301:
297:
291:
289:
285:
284:liquid oxygen
281:
277:
272:
269:
261:
259:
257:
252:
248:
243:
239:
234:
232:
228:
225:, powered by
224:
216:
211:
209:
207:
203:
199:
195:
194:Walt Anderson
191:
187:
183:
176:
174:
172:
168:
164:
160:
156:
151:
149:
145:
141:
137:
133:
129:
125:
116:
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109:
105:
97:
93:
90:
84:
80:
76:
72:
68:
65:
62:
58:
54:
48:
43:
39:
34:
19:
2637:VTVL rockets
2627:Space access
2544:
2521:Brian Binnie
2515:Mike Melvill
2511:(test pilot)
1943:
1935:
1920:
1911:
1905:SpaceShipTwo
1895:SpaceShipOne
1871:
1773:Toyota TAA-1
1637:* indicates
1501:Dream Chaser
1467:SpaceShipTwo
1461:SpaceShipOne
1347:
1316:
1055:Falcon Heavy
908:
901:
891:
885:Bibliography
874:the original
864:
846:
835:
810:. Retrieved
806:
796:
788:
783:
775:
770:
762:
757:
749:
744:
736:
731:
723:
718:
708:
703:
694:
686:the original
676:
628:
621:
619:
613:
607:
597:
591:
585:
579:
573:
567:
560:
558:
554:
553:
541:
525:
509:
506:
485:
477:
474:
465:
458:
454:autothrottle
450:
442:
434:SpaceShipOne
430:Brian Binnie
423:
412:
404:
387:
372:
369:A new engine
360:
351:
334:
330:
323:
304:
292:
273:
267:
265:
253:
249:
241:
235:
223:rotor blades
220:
180:
152:
131:
123:
122:
2607:Spaceplanes
2566: /
2554:118°09′30″W
1594:Silver Dart
1526:upper stage
1455:Gemini SC-2
1412:Boeing X-37
1373:VentureStar
1305:Hyperbola-2
1232:Kankoh-maru
1165:Orbex Prime
1134:Hyperbola-3
1113:Ariane Next
1092:* (booster)
1086:* (booster)
1061:New Shepard
622:Performance
598:Powerplant:
346:spaceplanes
190:Gary Hudson
144:Gary Hudson
2592:Rotorcraft
2581:Categories
2551:35°03′19″N
2533:Paul Allen
2503:Doug Shane
2497:Burt Rutan
1912:Enterprise
1847:(uncrewed)
1841:(uncrewed)
1727:Pond Racer
1697:VariViggen
1639:suborbital
1395:Spacecraft
1358:Tianjiao-1
1353:Sea Dragon
1276:(boosters)
1209:Tianlong-3
1140:Long March
1020:spacecraft
812:2021-07-29
649:References
614:Burn time:
521:Tom Clancy
337:helicopter
326:heatshield
198:Tom Clancy
140:spacecraft
87:Key people
2499:(founder)
1845:Model 396
1839:Model 395
1763:Adam A500
1747:Model 401
1732:Boomerang
1604:X-30 NASP
1566:Cancelled
1534:Proposals
1520:(capsule)
1514:(capsule)
1508:(capsule)
1497:(capsule)
1451:(capsule)
1315:Hopper /
1290:Falcon 1e
1225:Proposals
1217:(engines)
1159:New Glenn
654:Citations
580:Diameter:
568:Capacity:
555:Data from
491:Last days
440:flight).
363:composite
311:N1 rocket
231:turbopump
64:Aerospace
1981:Tier One
1641:vehicles
1524:Starship
1506:Mengzhou
1428:Shenlong
1423:Dragon 2
1295:Falcon 5
1251:Canceled
1203:Terran R
1171:Pallas-1
1128:Electron
1118:CALLISTO
1049:Falcon 9
976:Archived
854:Archived
821:cite web
636:See also
307:kerosene
227:tip jets
206:McKinney
128:rocketry
114:Products
60:Industry
1974:flights
1851:Vantage
1834:Triumph
1829:Grizzly
1824:Catbird
1737:Proteus
1722:Voyager
1717:Long-EZ
1712:Defiant
1707:Quickie
1702:VariEze
1589:Mustard
1437:Retired
1419:(CSSHQ)
1317:Phoenix
1258:Adeline
1153:Miura 5
1071:Retired
950:, from
870:"Roton"
574:Length:
446:Batcave
438:X-Prize
375:Fastrac
339:-style
177:Origins
78:Defunct
70:Founded
27:Company
1578:Kliper
1541:Avatar
1449:Dragon
1405:Active
1363:Spiral
1310:HOPE-X
1274:Ares V
1268:Ares I
1263:Angara
1237:SASSTO
1215:Vulcan
1188:Skylon
1177:RLV-TD
1123:CORONA
1084:Petrel
1042:Active
915:
629:Range:
355:Soviet
341:rotors
202:Hudson
126:was a
1921:Unity
1819:BiPod
1557:SUSIE
1518:Orion
1348:Roton
1323:HOTOL
1300:Nexus
616:253 s
268:Roton
186:Wired
157:from
132:Roton
117:Roton
1942:VMS
1934:VMS
1919:VSS
1910:VSS
1814:ATTT
1809:ARES
1788:X-38
1610:X-33
1599:SOAR
1583:Lynx
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