Discovery SSTO V8.2 - Single Stage to Orbit Heavy Lift, Hypersonic Aircraft - 70 TON Payload - IO Aircraft

Discovery SSTO V8.2 - Single Stage to Orbit Heavy Lift, Hypersonic Aircraft - 70 TON Payload - IO Aircraft

 

IO Aircraft: www.ioaircraft.com/hypersonic/discovery-218.php

 

Discovery SSTO V8.2 Specs

Length: 218FT/ Span: 102.58FT / Palyload Bay: 60' L X 16' 7" W X 16' 7" H / Span: 70 Ton (140,000 LBS)

 

Engines: U-TBCC (Unified Turbined Based Combined Cycle) Inc/Zero Atmosphere

 

Inlets: Adaptive REST, Originally Hapb/Larc NASA

 

Fuel: 140,000 Gallons 12,000+ PSI H2 / 90,000 Gallons 12,000+ PSI O2

 

Fuel Weight: Apx 72,000 LBS Total / *If liquid, would be 1.4 Million LBS

 

Weight: Apx 250,000 LBS EOW/Dry Weight / Apx 510,000 T/O Weight, Max Payload

 

Airframe: 75+% Proprietary Advanced Composites, 400,000 PSI Tensile Strength Airframe / *NO Ceramic Tiles

 

Thermals: 6,000F Thermal Resistance

 

Estimated Cost: $1.2 Billion Each (Fly Away Price) or $900 million in batches of 5

 

Estimated Launch Cost: Apx $30 Million at 140,000 LBS, Including Maintenance Costs / Under $250 per pound at Maximum Paylaod Wieght *Could Drop to Below $50 per LBS

 

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Unified Turbine Based Combined Cycle. Current technologies and what Lockheed is trying to force on the Dept of Defense, for that low speed Mach 5 plane DOD gave them $1 billion to build and would disintegrate above Mach 5, is TBCC. 2 separate propulsion systems in the same airframe, which requires TWICE the airframe space to use.

 

Unified Turbine Based Combined Cycle is 1 propulsion system cutting that airframe deficit in half, and also able to operate above Mach 10 up to Mach 15 in atmosphere, and a simple nozzle modification allows for outside atmosphere rocket mode, ie orbital capable.

 

Additionally, Reaction Engines maximum air breather mode is Mach 4.5, above that it will explode in flight from internal pressures are too high to operate. Thus, must switch to non air breather rocket mode to operate in atmosphere in hypersonic velocities. Which as a result, makes it not feasible for anything practical. It also takes an immense amount of fuel to function.

Done