Analysis of Off-Design Considerations for Innovative Single-Stage-to-Orbit Configurations

An existing hypersonic vehicle design code predicts EISP performance increases of 200-400 seconds over traditional single-stage-to-orbit configurations. If realized, such increase may have profound effects on the vehicle weight and maximum airbreathing Mach number. To date, these improved results have only been obtained for vehicles at a specified design point, and no off design analysis has been performed. The work suggested in this proposal takes the first steps toward assessing the feasibility of creating an off-design performance tool that is appropriate for conceptual design applications. As such, this tool should be capable of producing reasonable accuracy at a relatively high rate of computional speed. In addition, the suggested work also examines the feasibility of implementing the required variable geometry into the types of vehicle configurations that are created by the existing design code. Ideals and concepts for handling varible geometry considerations of a wide range of configurations will be proposed.