System Investigations of the SpaceLiner Concept in FAST20XX

Abstract

DLR’s launcher systems analysis division has proposed a visionary, extremely fast passenger transportation concept reaching the edges of space based on rocket propulsion. The paper describes the recent technical progress achieved in the SpaceLiner configuration. The revolutionary ultrafast transport is now under investigation in the EU-funded study FAST20XX (Future high-Altitude high-Speed Transport 20XX) set off in December 2009. The focus of the paper is on all system aspects of the preliminary design including its flight performance impact on design choices. A major new result is the replacement of the original skipping trajectory by a smooth glide obtained in system optimizations.