Author Topic: Virgin Orbit - LauncherTwo (Read 9936 times)

FutureSpaceTourist · « **on:** 08/23/2021 11:16 pm »

As well as potential LauncherOne improvements, Virgin Orbit’s investor presentation also suggests a possible top mounted LauncherTwo “potential tripling of meaningful performance increase”

Steven Pietrobon · « **Reply #1 on:** 08/24/2021 08:33 am »

LauncherTwo has wings! Just need to make sure that any Bond villains can't get control. :-)

Skyrocket · « **Reply #2 on:** 08/24/2021 09:18 am »

Quote from: Steven Pietrobon on 08/24/2021 08:33 am

LauncherTwo has wings! Just need to make sure that any Bond villains can't get control. :-)

The non-swept wings are apparently only for subsonic flight - to enable the L2 to clear the aft fin. I think they will be jettisoned shortly after ignition.

jstrotha0975 · « **Reply #3 on:** 08/24/2021 03:14 pm »

Since Launcher Two has wings, does this mean it returns to a runway after mission?

Craftyatom · « **Reply #4 on:** 08/24/2021 06:40 pm »

Launching something from the top of your plane has historically been somewhat hit-or-miss. The Enterprise ALTs, which were some of the more recent (despite being more than 40 years ago) top launches, were still considered risky by some. A lot of care was put into making sure that the aircraft separated quickly and cleanly.

That said, with good aero surfaces on L2, their flight profile might actually be simpler than with L1 - strong pitch authority on the rocket means it can release and pitch way up while the 747 maintains level flight (though it would likely dive and turn away as well to ensure clearance). It might also reduce or eliminate the need for ullage thrusters.

I agree with Skyrocket that the wing is clearly only for separation and initial pitch control, but detaching it cleanly at speed seems difficult - I would imagine that it could become unstable quickly and damage the rocket (especially the fins at the rear). One possible solution would be to separate the entire aerodynamic package (including the fins) as a unit, which would also save mass and drag throughout the rest of first-stage flight.

Another - very unusual - possibility is an oblique wing, like the AD-1, but with the ability to turn all the way to 90 degrees (I believe one university group explored this as a reuse mechanism for VTHL boosters). If they get first-stage recovery working, then in theory it would allow them to recover the wing mechanism while also avoiding potential damage to the first stage during wing separation. In practice, it would mean mass and drag penalties, the cost of a new wing each time shouldn't be too much if they design it right, and there's no research into the performance of such a wing in trans/supersonic regimes AFAIK.