/sci/ - Science & Math

Reposting from an older thread:

R8 my KSP-tier idea for an ultra-heavy (1500 tonnes to LEO) fully reusable launch system.

>"Project Poseidon"

>amphibious hypersonic air-launch to orbit
>essentially the love child of Sea Dragon and Venture Star
>launcher is an enormous ~160 meter long suborbital spaceplane that takes off and lands on the surface of the ocean and carries a self-propelled cargo module on its back, similar to the one that would have been used on the unbuilt Shuttle C, albeit significantly larger with a 12m x 15m x 60m cargo bay
>launcher is powered by four massive linear aerospike engines that burn RP1 and LOX
>underside of the launcher is a sort of blended trimaran planing hull, with the cryogenic LOX tanks housed in the three hull profiles
>launcher has variable sweep wings with slotted fowler flaps to provide as much lift as possible on takeoff and landing

>cryogenic propellents for both the boat launcher and the cargo module are extracted in situ from the seawater by electrolysis and a generic tanker support ship fuels the launcher with RP1
>cargo module becomes the second stage and is jettisoned in-flight at about mach 6 at roughly 200,000 feet
>cargo module is powered by 6 engines: 2 SSME-derived vacuum-optimized main engines that burn LH2 and LOX for the main insertion burn, and 4 AJ10 hypergolic engines for final orbital maneuvers and de-orbit
>cargo module self-recovers by belly-flop reentry and splashdown
>launcher self recovers by simply flying itself back to the launch site, possibly using a bit of remaining fuel for supersonic cruise
>launcher does not need sophisticated heat protection because it is suborbital and thus is never exposed to the full-fury of re-entry stress, though it may briefly cross the Karman line

>overall, the system's purpose in the space program would be orbital habitat construction (particularly lifting massive torus segments into orbit), and occasionally launching deep-space expeditions

Thoughts?