Control surfaces for use with high speed vehicles, and associated systems and methods

摘要

Vehicles with bidirectional control surfaces and associated systems and methods are disclosed. In a particular embodiment, a rocket can include a plurality of bidirectional control surfaces positioned toward an aft portion of the rocket. In this embodiment, the bidirectional control surfaces can be operable to control the orientation and/or flight path of the rocket during both ascent, in a nose-first orientation, and descent, in a tail-first orientation for, e.g., a tail-down landing.

主权项

1. A propulsion module for a space launch vehicle, the propulsion module comprising:
a forward portion spaced apart from an aft portion along a longitudinal axis of the propulsion module; a rocket engine comprising at least one rocket exhaust nozzle, the rocket exhaust nozzle positioned toward the aft portion and configured to provide thrust to launch the propulsion module in an ascent orientation in which the forward portion leads the aft portion; and a plurality of aerodynamic control surfaces, wherein each of the aerodynamic control surfaces is configured to pivot about a corresponding pivot axis extending outwardly from the longitudinal axis to control the propulsion module when the propulsion module is flying in a descent orientation in which the aft portion leads the forward portion.