An Operationally focused assessment of alternatives to achieve a Reusable First Stage Booster with a Return to Launch Site Capability and the ability to be turned for successive launches within 24 hours - or less

The authors will assert that to achieve a truly “operational” reusable launch vehicle first stage the stage must possess characteristics that are no more technically aggressive than a fighter aircraft from the mid 1970’s. Therefore the vehicle must possess the following characteristics: 1.) minimize the damage by plume impingement and potential aerodynamic instability during second stage separation by rapidly providing hundreds of feet of separation in seconds (typically 4 seconds); 2.) abate the vertical and down-range coast of the booster vehicle after separation, while maintaining the orientation of the vehicle to the flight vector; 3.) return the reusable first stage to sub sonic flows at altitudes much in excess of 75,000 feet, thereby eliminating the classical “reentry” environments; 4.) return the vehicle to free gliding flight at altitudes above 40,000 feet; 5.) require nothing more exotic than bare metal for all vehicle skins; and 6.) require nothing more than ordinary aircraft turn-around inspections and services to prepare the airframe for a new launch cycle. An additional benefit is that this concept should ideally stage at about 180,000 feet and Mach 5.5. This keeps the down-range coast of the first stage to a reasonable distance for return to launch site while requiring minimum thrust augmentation for return to launch site and no new propulsion systems added to the stage. The paper will discuss the operational benefits of each constraint and explore concepts through which the launch vehicle can meet these constraints. 1 Vice President – Business Development, PO Box 224, Poway, CA 92074, AIAA Senior Member 2 Retired, 2906 Via Pepita, Carlsbad, CA., AIAA Senior Member 3 CEO, PO Box 224, Poway, CA 92074, AIAA Senior Member 4 Vice President, Chief Aerodynamicist, PO Box 224, Poway, CA 92074,