Propulsion system for earth to orbit vehicle

摘要

A single-stage earth-to-orbit launch vehicle employs a combination of rocket engines and turbojet engines to propel a device into orbit. The vehicle is driven through a unique set of operating conditions of the engines to conserve oxidizer and optimize acceleration. Cooling effects of fuel used by both types of engines is employed to maintain operating temperature of the turbojet engines within limits of lightweight materials. The rocket engines are used during initial acceleration and then permitted to remain deeply throttled or idle until the vehicle reaches a speed of about Mach 6. The rocket engine, with most of its oxidizer intact, is then used to accelerate the vehicle into orbit.