Blue Origin’s Post

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Who needs a runway when you could just use a rocket? And what if we used an aircraft to launch a rocket? Read on and enjoy this little video that reminds us how far our species likes to push boundaries. 😅🚀 Rocket Assisted Takeoff, or RATO, is a method used to help aircraft take off when additional thrust is needed. This could be due to heavy loads, short runways, or the need for a quick ascent. RATO units are rocket motors attached to the aircraft, providing a temporary boost in thrust to aid in lift-off. RATO has historical roots dating back to the early 20th century and was notably used during World War II. There are various types of assisted takeoffs, including catapults on aircraft carriers and air-launch-to-orbit systems for space missions. Modern applications of RATO include military operations where aircraft like the C-130 Hercules, shown in the second video, use RATO for short-field takeoffs in remote locations. RATO is significant because it enhances aircraft capabilities in situations where traditional takeoff methods are not feasible. It allows for operations from constrained environments and contributes to the versatility of military and specialized aircraft. The technology also plays a role in space launches, offering a flexible and potentially cost-effective alternative to ground-based rocket launches. It's called air-launch-to-orbit and it's a method of launching rockets from an aircraft at high altitude. In theory, it presents several advantages over traditional vertical launches. It reduces the mass and thrust needed for the rocket, allows for more precise control over the launch, and can be less subject to weather constraints. It also offers the potential for launch-on-demand and aircraft-like operations. This is what Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne was designed to accomplish, seen in the last part of the video, but sadly technical and financial difficulties killed the project. Virgin Orbit went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy. If you love space and want to be in on the breaking inside conversations in the space economy, feel free to subscribe to my newsletter, Trailblazers. It’s the fastest-growing space newsletter and it’s free! 👉 https://lnkd.in/gfpUsDDC 🎥 Credit: withregram, pilotxtrim, galleryaircraft, and spacemann.lol on IG #space #technology #spaceeconomy #rocketlaunch #virginorbit #RATO

POLARIS prepares for Spaceplane Aerial Refueling Flight Experiments When making use of aerial refueling, the operational range of the Aurora spaceplane greatly increases, which enables to execute space launch or hypersonic missions far away from the home base. In addition, the payload mass can be increased. The experiments also include in-flight docking between a spaceplane demonstrator and another aircraft representing a tanker during the year 2024. While the focus is on conventional kerosene aerial refueling, a subtask will also investigate the possibility of future liquid oxygen (LOX) aerial refueling. The experiments are supported by the BAAINBw (Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support).

HAPS are another important tool in helping connect the world. A 'unified' solution involving terrestrial, satellite and HAPS networks, seems the way forward for connecting the world. Thoughts?

In ten years’ time more than a thousand aircraft with the wingspan of an A380 superjumbo, yet weighing less than the average British adult, will be flying high in the stratosphere on the edge of space. That is the claim of the people who want to sell the world Britain’s contribution to the space race: special purpose pseudo-satellites at $5 million a time, to be used as spyplanes or airborne telecommunication masts. Manufactured in the hundreds per year, they will be a cut-price Lidl alternative for those who cannot afford, or have no access to, the satellites in geostationary orbit that cost at least $100 million. And that is on top of launch costs burning rocket fuel in the tens of millions of dollars and insurance and maintenance costs. These solar-powered, battery-driven aircraft called Zephyr are extreme-lightweight, unmanned aerial vehicles. Carrying no conventional fuel, they take off from Earth as a glider would and are carbon neutral.

In ten years’ time more than a thousand aircraft with the wingspan of an A380 superjumbo, yet weighing less than the average British adult, will be flying high in the stratosphere on the edge of space. That is the claim of the people who want to sell the world Britain’s contribution to the space race: special purpose pseudo-satellites at $5 million a time, to be used as spyplanes or airborne telecommunication masts. Manufactured in the hundreds per year, they will be a cut-price Lidl alternative for those who cannot afford, or have no access to, the satellites in geostationary orbit that cost at least $100 million. And that is on top of launch costs burning rocket fuel in the tens of millions of dollars and insurance and maintenance costs. These solar-powered, battery-driven aircraft called Zephyr are extreme-lightweight, unmanned aerial vehicles. Carrying no conventional fuel, they take off from Earth as a glider would and are carbon neutral.

Another space need CTP Space Industries can likely fulfill into the coming decade... CTP Gravitic Tow-Beams (CTPGTB) (https://lnkd.in/euaBDVUh) The larger the #CTPcraft the more CEMAS reserves for generating a modulated gravitational-beam (or CTPGTB) such a #CTPcraft will be able to draw upon. We foresee that the larger CTP Industrial Space Platforms (CTPISP) (https://lnkd.in/eUzVuJSg) or perhaps even smaller CTP Gravitic Platforms (https://lnkd.in/eFTTvx28) may serve well for CTP Orbital Transfer Towing (CTPOTT) of various payloads in orbit (including uses and application in CTP #spacemining). #newscience #space #futurespace #futurespaceindustry #growthmarkets #newindustry #newindustrial #newspace #newspaceeconomy #CTPSpace

Proof of the amazing things we can fund, build, and realize if we focus on #uncrewed space exploration. We could be doing so much more with so much less if we shifted from romantic, imperialistic notions of physically sending humans to explore. #ForgetPeopleOnMars #ForgetPeopleOnTheMoon #ExploreSpaceWithRobots

One of the many cool things about flying in the Huntsville, AL area is that there's an actual Saturn V rocket as an unmistakable landmark. Besides landing us on the moon, the Saturn V launch system had some other impressive facts: * Stage 1 produced 7.75 million (!) pounds of thrust or about 11,000x the amount of thrust Li'l Blue's 180-hp Lycoming produces. 🙂 * The five Aerojet Rocketdyne F-1 first stage engines gobbled up about 40,000 pounds of fuel per SECOND! Li'l Blue, on the other hand, sips about 60 pounds per HOUR. 😉 * In 2017, the LEGO Group released a kit to build your own brick Saturn V (and it contained 1,969 pieces - a tip of the hat to the year that Saturn V launched the first humans to land on the moon). It's available for about the price of a typical fueling of Li'l Blue. 😃 The Saturn V is on display at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center (actually, they have two - one is horizontal and indoors for your up-close and personal viewing pleasure) plus a shuttle external tank/solid rocket boosters and many other #missiles and #rockets. Here Li'l Blue (a 1978 Grumman AA-5B Tiger) is on an extended left base for Runway One Eight Left at Port of Huntsville - Huntsville International Airport. Huntsville/Madison County Chamber #LaminateLife #flying #aerospace #RocketCity #spaceexploration (𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘥, 𝘣𝘺 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘵 & 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘺.)