A Systematic Comparison of Reusable First Stage Return Options

Kurzfassung

The recent success of the emerging private space companies SpaceX and Blue Origin in landing, recovering and relaunching first stages have demonstrated the possibility of building reliable reusable launchers with low launch costs. Due to this risen interest in reusability, the project AKIRA was initiated by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in 2017. This multidisciplinary project focuses on identifying and investigating key technologies for possible future reusable launch vehicles. Within this paper the focus is set on the comparison of different return options including vertical takeoff, vertical landing and vertical takeoff, horizontal landing on a technological and economic level.