Saenger Type II Booster v1.0 and Saenger Type II Orbiter v1.0 (TL 08) Copyright 1996 by Onno Meyer The system proposed by Eugen Saenger works similar to the NASA Shuttle concept, but instead of disposable tanks and boosters the lower stage of the launch system is a complete aircraft. The booster is a jumbo-jet-sized aircraft containing mostly fuel and engines. It can only operate from reinforced concrete runways. The orbiter is a lifting body with few external features. It consists mostly of the rocket engines, large fuel tanks and a composite shell that allows reentry. The cabin of the orbiter holds 20 crew and passengers. A small docking bay holds 30 tons of cargo. While power and life support last for over a day, the accomodations are extremely cramped. After take-off from an equatorial airport, the booster accelerates and climbs on a carefully planned flightpath to Mach 6, where the afterburners kick in for a final push to Mach 8. Then the orbiter separates on the way to LEO and the booster flies home. The orbiter has a delta-V of 5,780 m/s. About 5,300 m/s are expended to get into orbit, a nine-minute burn at two G (full thrust with nearly empty tanks would give bone-crushing twelve G). In LEO, six maneuvering thrusters take over and fly the orbiter to the final destination. Care has to be taken to conserve fuel, because the remainder is used to get the orbiter into the upper atmosphere, where aerobraking takes it down to a dead-stick landing. A fuel load is $259,200 for the booster and $133,622.5 for the orbiter. The maintenance keeps a dozen mechanics busy and crews need salaries as well. Nevertheless, the launch cost is down to some $50 to $100 per pound. The Saengers are TL08 vehicles [Vehicles 2nd edition, Nov. 96 errata]. BOOSTER: Subassemblies and Body Features: Two STOL wings, twelve retractable wheels and radical streamlining. Propulsion: Eight 90-ton turbo-ramjets with afterburner (HP 400, 8,100 gph or 28,350 gph jet fuel each). Instruments and Electronics: Four long-range radios (1,000 mi., HP 2), five LLTVs (10-power, +3/+6, HP 1), radar (F, 40 mi., scan 20, HP 9), four transponders (HP 1), two GPS (HP 1), two radar detectors (HP 1), four hardened minicomps (C3, HP 11) with four terminals (HP 10). Misc. Component: External cradle (rated for 400 tons, HP 800). Controls: Computerized. Crew Stations: Two "Pilots" with flight controls, "Navigator" and "Engineer" with computer terminals. Occupancy: Short. Crew: Four. Accomodations: Four normal workstations. Environmental System: 4*6h limited lifesystem (HP 13). Safety System: Ejection capsule. Power: 8 MWs advanced battery (HP 2). Fuel: Two 86,400 gallon tank (self-sealing, HP 5,000, fire -3). 86,400 gallons jet fuel (fire 10) for 80 minutes (less on afterburner). Space: 4,004 cf engine access space in wings, 255.6 cf empty space. Volume: Body 22,575 cf, wings 4,004 cf each, wheels 1,128.75 cf. Area: Body 5,000, wings 4,000 each, wheels 800, total area 13,800. Structure: Heavy frame. Structural Options: Improved suspension and brakes. Hit Points: Body 15,000, wings 12,000 each, wheels 400 each. Armor: 54 points expensive metal armor. Surface Features: Seal. Statistics: Empty weight 318.8 tons, fuel load 280.8 tons, payload 400.4 tons, loaded weight 1,000 tons, volume 30,583 cf, size modifier +8, Cost $169,209,640, HT 7. Ground Performance (with Orbiter, using afterburner): Top speed 460 mph, gAccel 20 mph/s, gDecel 15 mph/s, gMR 0.5, gSR 5, extremely high GP. Aerial Performance (with Orbiter): Stall speed 420 mph, drag 325+125, top speed 4,900 mph, aAccel 14 mph/s, aMR 3, aSR 7, aDecel 12 mph/s. Aerial Performance (with Orbiter, using afterburner): Top speed 6,000 mph, aAccel 22 mph/s. ORBITER: Subassemblies and Body Features: Lifting body with radical streamlining, six retractable wheels, overall "fine" construction. Propulsion: Four 200-ton liquid fuel rockets (each HP 125, 440,000 gph) and six vectored half-ton liquid fuel rockets (each HP 3, 1,100 gph). Instruments and Electronics: Four long-range radios (1,000 miles, HP 2), four tightbeam radios (1,000 mi., HP 1), eight LLTVs (10-power, +3/+6, HP 1), radar (F, 50 mi., scan 21, HP 10), four transponders (HP 1), two INS (HP 4), four GPS (HP 1), two radar detectors (HP 1), four hardened minicomps (C3, HP 11) with six terminals (HP 10). Misc. Components: Two-person airlock, space dock (for 800 cf, HP 1,000). Controls: Computerized. Crew Stations: Two "Pilots" with flight controls. Occupancy: Short. Passengers: 18. Crew: Two pilots. Accomodations: Two roomy crewstations, 18 cramped seats. Environmental Systems: Three 20 man-day limited lifesystems (HP 100 each). Power: 25 KW fuel cell (HP 13, uses 3.25 gph LHyd and 1.625 gph LOX), 600 MWs advanced battery (HP 40). Fuel: 150 gallon self-sealing tank (HP 50, fire -3), 75 gallon self- sealing tank (HP 30, fire -3), four 16,700 gallon ultralight tanks (HP 1,200). 150 gallons hydrogen (fire 10), 75 gallons LOX (fire 10) and 66,800 gallons rocket fuel (fire 13) provide 136.63 seconds at full thrust and 46 hours power. Space: 324.8 cf engine access, 937.49 cf empty space. Volume: Body 21,070 cf, wheels 1,053.5 cf. Area: Body 5,000, wheels 800, total area 5,800. Structure: Advanced light frame. Structural Options: Improved brakes. Hit Points: Body 3,750, wheels 200 each. Armor: Advanced composite armor, F4/100 B4/25 R4/25 L4/25 T4/25 U4/100. Surface Features: Seal. Statistics: Empty weight 67,193 lbs., fuel load 668,807 lbs., payload 32 tons, loaded weight 400 tons, volume 21,070 cf, size modifier +7, Cost $86,170,600, HT 7 (12 on reentry). Space Performance (boost phase): sAccel 2 G to 12.12 G, sMR 2 to 12. Aerial Performance (reentry): Stall speed 230 mph, drag 125, top speed n/a, aAccel n/a, aMR 0.25, aSR 5, aDecel 1 mph/s.