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Theoretically, the plug-type rocket engine is not affected by altitude, which can create a single-stage orbital, reusable spacecraft, which can be launched directly from the ground into space, and then land completely and re-used like a traditional airplane.

Soon this idea was started to be actually developed.

That's right, it is the Meriken Space Agency.

It has to be said that the Meriken Space Agency of that era was really rich, rich and ideal, and dared to be the first in the world.

For this, Tang Chao had to give them a compliment.

They dared to act first for the world, whether they succeeded or failed, they provided a lot of experience for the latecomers, which saved a lot of money and time.

At that time, they started the RS-2200 engine research and development plan for more than 10 years around this technology, using a linear structure, which is the kind of rocket engine that looks like a rectangular shape, and it feels like a future spacecraft.

Matched with this engine is a single-stage orbital space shuttle replacement project called "Adventure Star". The triangular lifting body structure fuselage is equipped with a square engine, and the concept of unmanned driving represents the future.

But this thing looks beautiful, but it is actually difficult.

Because of the need to reuse, so the material and process requirements are extremely high, and the technology is limited, which causes the air tip engine to be unstable from time to time, resulting in a sudden drop in thrust in the air.

This is very dangerous in the process of launching into space.

On the other hand, the problems of heat insulation and heat dissipation also involve new materials, which have not been resolved.

Later, they felt that the "Adventure Star" program was too radical, so they built a small verification machine.

After all, the "Adventure Star" weighs more than 1,100 tons and has a length and width of more than 45 meters. It is much larger than the space shuttle. Even if most of it is fuel weight, it is too difficult to get this thing into space orbit without throwing it away.

It's better to be small, and small can satisfy them.

Therefore, the length, width and height were reduced by half, and the weight was only a fraction of the original 130-ton "X-33" technical verification machine.

However, its development is not smooth, not only is the budget overruns serious, but the progress is also far behind the original plan.

Finally, after the space agency and Lockheed Martin happily spent more than one billion dollars together, I felt that this thing was still too advanced, and now it had no future, and then dismounted.

A few years later, the space shuttle was also retired due to "too advanced" reasons, causing Meriken to have to buy tickets for the spacecraft from the bear family to enter the space station for a long time.

The Teddy Bear was also quite interesting. He slaughtered him severely for a few dollars, and the ferry tickets became more expensive year by year.

What Tang Chao sees now is actually the second prototype. The first prototype has been manufactured and is undergoing various ground tests. The second is undergoing flight tests.

It was being assembled, and Werner took Tang Chao to look inside the cabin and cockpit.

This model has three cabins, namely the cockpit, transition cabin and passenger cabin.

The docking interface of the aircraft is on the back, near the nose, and there is a hatch that slides forward. After entering, there is a transition compartment, which also serves as an airlock compartment.

This cabin will also contain some supplies, because according to the design, passengers will stay in orbit for more than two hours and have a simple space meal.

The front of the transition cabin is the cockpit, which can seat two pilots, and the rear is the cabin, which can seat four space tourists.

Although no equipment has been installed in the several cabins, Tang Chao could already imagine the scene when it was running.

Since this aircraft is a fuselage with wing-body fusion, not a cylindrical fuselage, it is not easy to open portholes on both sides, so the portholes of this aircraft are opened on the upper side.

On the bulkhead above the seat, passengers can see it by looking up.

After the spacecraft reaches the scheduled orbit, passengers can unfasten their seat belts and move around freely and feel the wonder of weightlessness.

During this period, the seats will be flat, providing passengers with more space for activities, allowing them to play some weightless roll, weightless flying movements, or float to the porthole to enjoy the beautiful space and the blue earth.

The performance of this model of aircraft is actually not good. Its size is similar to the "X-33" previously experimented by Meriken, but the shape is more sci-fi.

And although the "X-33" can land horizontally on the runway like a glider, it must be launched vertically like a rocket during takeoff, and it cannot use the lift of the air to save part of the fuel.

And this kind of vertical take-off single-stage into orbit aircraft, the general effective load capacity is only 1% to 2%.

In other words, even if the design is very reasonable, an aircraft with a take-off weight of 100 tons can only carry 2 tons of cargo, and a poorly designed aircraft can only carry 1 ton.

It is incomparable with the 4% and 5% of the payload generated by the grading rocket after dropping its dead weight.

Just like the more famous heavy falcon, its take-off weight is about 1,420 tons, the low orbit carrying capacity can reach about 64 tons, and the load ratio reaches 4.5%.

If it is a vertically launched single-stage orbital vehicle, the same take-off weight can carry at most 28 tons of cargo.

This is still a good theoretical value. The design of the aircraft is a little too close, and it may not even be able to ship 20 tons.

The reason Tang Chao said that his aircraft had poor performance was not because it could not reach 2% capacity, but because it had only 2% capacity.

His aircraft does not take off vertically, but can take off horizontally.

For a rocket to fly vertically, its thrust must be greater than its weight. For example, the thrust is 10 and the weight is 9 to fly.

But the two values ​​are also limited, there is a reasonable range, not infinite.

Otherwise, there will be too much thrust, the fuel will be burned out early, and eventually it will not fly orbit, and then fall.

Or it appears that the fuel is loaded too much, the weight is too large, the thrust cannot push the rocket, and it can't fly.

A winged aircraft that takes off at his level is much better. The wings can use the lift of the air, even if the thrust is smaller than the weight, it doesn’t matter, it can still take off.

For example, the orbital shuttle in front of him has a take-off weight of 100 tons, most of which is fuel, but the maximum thrust provided by the six engines is only 93.6 tons.

It will definitely not be able to fly vertically, but fortunately, its wings can use air lift, and it can take off on the runway with 50% thrust.

If the thrust is reduced, the fuel consumption will be less. When flying to high altitude, the air will be thin and the lift will not be enough, so the small thrust will not move.

It doesn't matter. After flying for a while, the fuel has been consumed. Its weight is less than 90 tons, so the 100% thrust of 93.6 tons is enough to push the smaller and smaller weight onto the orbit.

Originally, this design could break through the 2% setting, but the thrust of the Kanxing technology engine it used was too small, and one engine weighs one ton, and six sets six tons.

In order to find reasonable values ​​for weight, thrust and fuel consumption speed, the size and performance are limited, and only vertical take-off loads can be carried.

Fortunately, his aircraft can fly, which is considered zero breakthrough on the earth, and the technological strides are not too large, after all, there have been experiments before.

It can also be regarded as a test of his response to the market and other countries' stress.

And all take off, all come back, every time you pay for gas.

Even if he only transports a few rich people at "low prices", he makes a lot of money.