Author Topic: Looking for a picture of an early STS flyback booster concept  (Read 3811 times)

Offline Req

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I saw it, I believe as part of a very interesting PDF, a few years ago here on this site, and I want to find it again.  It was a well-done, slick looking 60s space-art style illustration of an orbiter on a booster, both of which had large delta wings, sitting on a launch pad.  If memory serves, it was a Boeing SHLV follow-on shuttle concept.  I just spent an hour on google image search trying to find it with no luck.  Any help please? :)

Edit: Found it, but does anybody know what document it came from?  Thanks if so!
« Last Edit: 10/22/2018 03:57 am by Req »

Offline e of pi

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That's from one of the Boeing SPS (Space Power Satellite) studies, looking at the heavy lift vehicles required for assembling a planet's worth of powersats in a meaningfully short amount of time.

I don't have a copy of the study, but some details are extracted here: http://www.pmview.com/spaceodysseytwo/spacelvs/sld045.htm

Offline Archibald

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as e of pi said. 1976 Boeing study related to sbsp and space colonies. i have some document with its specs I'll dug that
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Offline AnalogMan

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Not the original Boeing document, but this 4-page article has some info on the concepts.

Boeing Space Freighter
Scott Lowther, Aerospace Projects Review (APR)
Horizons Newsletter Vol 37 issue 1, July/August 2011, Pages 36-39

http://www.aiaahouston.org/Horizons/Newsletter_2011_08.pdf

Offline Generic Username

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Edit: Found it, but does anybody know what document it came from? 

The Boeing Space Freighter appeared in a *lot* of documents about the SPS program, but I have so far failed to locate any documents specifically about that one design. It's a great looking vehicle, but it's unclear if a detailed engineering analysis was done for it. That said, US Launch Vehicle Projects #02 has an article on it.

http://www.aerospaceprojectsreview.com/blog/?p=2296


« Last Edit: 12/18/2018 09:54 am by Generic Username »
"US Spacecraft Projects" and "US Launch Vehicle Projects"
aerospaceprojectsreview.com

Offline Lars-J

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Not the original Boeing document, but this 4-page article has some info on the concepts.

Boeing Space Freighter
Scott Lowther, Aerospace Projects Review (APR)
Horizons Newsletter Vol 37 issue 1, July/August 2011, Pages 36-39

http://www.aiaahouston.org/Horizons/Newsletter_2011_08.pdf

That is quite interesting... The scale of this thing is seriously massive. ~160m tall on the pad. 18m diameter.  :o

But the interesting thing IMO is how many similarities there are to the SpaceX BFR. (the first and largest 2016 ITS version in particular)
- Similar payload capacity (400t vs ITS 300t)
- Liftoff mass (11000t vs ITS 10000t)
- Fully reusable system
- Methane booster
- Massive amount of first stage engines (16 vs ITS 42)

This is clearly from back in the day where Boeing dreamt BIG.

Here are images from the PDF above:
« Last Edit: 12/20/2018 09:02 pm by Lars-J »

Offline brickmack

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This blog https://spaceflighthistory.blogspot.com/2016/12/energy-from-space-department-of.html has some more paintings of this specific proposal, and some basic info on the SPS program. Note the BFR Chomper-style door in one of them too

Offline Rocket Science

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"What's old is new again"... ;)
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Offline Markstark

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This blog https://spaceflighthistory.blogspot.com/2016/12/energy-from-space-department-of.html has some more paintings of this specific proposal, and some basic info on the SPS program. Note the BFR Chomper-style door in one of them too

Holy cow

Offline apollo16uvc

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Doubt those tiny solar panels could supply power to the entire station, would take quite a lot of energy to keep the air fresh and heated.
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Offline Generic Username

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An in-progress CAD model of the thing, along with some other launchers considered for SPS.



« Last Edit: 12/28/2018 12:39 am by Generic Username »
"US Spacecraft Projects" and "US Launch Vehicle Projects"
aerospaceprojectsreview.com

Offline brickmack

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Doubt those tiny solar panels could supply power to the entire station, would take quite a lot of energy to keep the air fresh and heated.

As I understand it, only the tiny modules at the end near the solar panels were pressurized, the rest was unpressurized cargo. Power requirements would probably not be much worse than ISS

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