Advanced aviation technology for reusable launch vehicle improvement

The new project of a spacecraft launcher (SL) with reusable winged 1st stage boosters (RWB) developed by Khrunichev Space Center is considered. Since SL is operated in the atmosphere only, it makes sense to employ technologies which may be new for the space industry but have been applied in aviation. Particular attention is given to RWB power-off reentry to a suitable airfield along the ascent lane instead of direct flying back to the launch site after staging, as well as a profound controlled RWB reconfiguration before reentry. The paper talks about results of integrated analysis of aerodynamics, through-optimized trajectories and masses of the RWB and SL, as well as an expert assessment of the maintenance costs sufficient to substantiate effectiveness of the recovery airfields solution in terms of the payload mass, launch reliability, and operational costs reduction. Four RWB layouts are considered, including ones with a delta- and unswept tilting wing, with and without subsonic air-breathing engines, and the original RWB-transformer. Objective peculiarities of the RWB recovery are highlighted for Russian and Kourou cosmodromes.