Progress of SpaceLiner Rocket-Powered High-Speed Concept

Abstract

DLR’s launcher systems analysis division is investigating since a couple of years a visionary, extremely fast passenger transportation concept based on rocket propulsion. Thanks to the multi-national collaboration, the technical lay-out of the SpaceLiner has now matured to Phase A conceptual design level. Iterative sizing of all major subcomponents in nominal and off-nominal flight conditions has been performed. The paper describes the technical progress achieved for the most recent SpaceLiner 7 configuration: • system aspects of the reference vehicle’s preliminary design including its nominal trajectory, • main propulsion system definition, • pre-development of a passenger cabin and rescue capsule, • establishment of a preliminary structural concept, • preliminary sizing of the thermal protection and active cooling systems, • evolution of the passenger stage for different missions allowing for increased passenger numbers on shorter flight distances • cost estimation and preliminary business case analyses