Can you imagine?, traveling from New York to Paris and visit for a few moments the Space at 100km of altitude. This aircraft concept, could do it in a near future.
Thanks to technical and technological progress, talk about Space Tourism, Suborbital trips or trips to the Moon, is not an utopia today. In the XXI century we think about futures achievements as, human missions on Mars, travel "regular" to the orbit of the Moon and Tourist trips to the frontier to space, available to "unprofessional" people with "select" economic resources, like a simple personal adventures.
The SXT-A "Iron Speed"(Space XL Transporter-Advanced) aircraft concept, combines three types of propulsion engines in a different stages to connect two important cities like any commercial flight, but with the difference that with the SXT-A "Iron Speed" the passangers or "Space Tourists" could enjoy experiencing, a supersonic cruise speed at Mach 2, a maximum Hypersonic speed at Mach 6 and stay for a few minutes at the border of space at 100km. of altitude.
Would be equipped with two modern Low-bypass turbofan Jet engines with afterburning or Next-Gen of Superjet engines with Adaptive Versatile Engine Technology (ADVENT), that aims to combine the best traits of turbojet and turbofan engines, delivering supersonic speed capability and fuel efficiency; a Hybrid Rocket engine and an engine based on Scramjet-Ramjet propulsion System. It would have a mixture of composites and aluminum materials for the fuselage with thermal protections, with "hot/warm" metallic primary structure and hot metallic leading edges, on the front section of the aircraft; would have two "canards" (like a Eurofighter Typhoon Jet) driven by a computerized flight control system, a Thermoelectric system capable to convert heat exhaust flow ejected by the Jet engines into electric energy to flight control system and sub-systems, Dynamic nozzles with chevron shaped sections to reduce noise and redirect exhaust gases; with a "Thermal Core System". Also be equipped with a system of air refueling in the front of he aircraft, a parachute for landing phase, two elevators like a "Space balconies"... .
The 80% of the structure of the SXT-A would consist for the three types of propulsion systems and different tanks fuel, the 20% remaining (front section of the aircraft) would host the crew members and passangers.
The Trip:
The SXT-A "Iron Speed", take off from an international airport ( New York, Paris, Sydney, Hong Kong,..) on a track with "special" specifications, but like any copmmercial Jetliner. In the firts phase, would reach an altitude of 65,000 ft. at Mach 2 speed, in the second phase the "protector cone" (reusable and retrievable) of the rocket would be ejected and redirected over uninhabited area - ocean -, water landing with a parachutes and afloat with internal float, in this stage the rocket engine turns on until reach an altitude of 100km.
In the third phase, while the aircraft descends, the rocket engine is turned on again for a few seconds to speed-up at Mach 4 speed and then Scramjet-Ramjet system turns on an altitude of 120,000 ft. accelerating to Mach 6 speed and decelerating when the aircraft is near its destination, to change at Jet propulsion engine, and landing like any commercial Jetliner
Thanks to technical and technological progress, talk about Space Tourism, Suborbital trips or trips to the Moon, is not an utopia today. In the XXI century we think about futures achievements as, human missions on Mars, travel "regular" to the orbit of the Moon and Tourist trips to the frontier to space, available to "unprofessional" people with "select" economic resources, like a simple personal adventures.
The SXT-A "Iron Speed"(Space XL Transporter-Advanced) aircraft concept, combines three types of propulsion engines in a different stages to connect two important cities like any commercial flight, but with the difference that with the SXT-A "Iron Speed" the passangers or "Space Tourists" could enjoy experiencing, a supersonic cruise speed at Mach 2, a maximum Hypersonic speed at Mach 6 and stay for a few minutes at the border of space at 100km. of altitude.
Would be equipped with two modern Low-bypass turbofan Jet engines with afterburning or Next-Gen of Superjet engines with Adaptive Versatile Engine Technology (ADVENT), that aims to combine the best traits of turbojet and turbofan engines, delivering supersonic speed capability and fuel efficiency; a Hybrid Rocket engine and an engine based on Scramjet-Ramjet propulsion System. It would have a mixture of composites and aluminum materials for the fuselage with thermal protections, with "hot/warm" metallic primary structure and hot metallic leading edges, on the front section of the aircraft; would have two "canards" (like a Eurofighter Typhoon Jet) driven by a computerized flight control system, a Thermoelectric system capable to convert heat exhaust flow ejected by the Jet engines into electric energy to flight control system and sub-systems, Dynamic nozzles with chevron shaped sections to reduce noise and redirect exhaust gases; with a "Thermal Core System". Also be equipped with a system of air refueling in the front of he aircraft, a parachute for landing phase, two elevators like a "Space balconies"... .
The 80% of the structure of the SXT-A would consist for the three types of propulsion systems and different tanks fuel, the 20% remaining (front section of the aircraft) would host the crew members and passangers.
The Trip:
The SXT-A "Iron Speed", take off from an international airport ( New York, Paris, Sydney, Hong Kong,..) on a track with "special" specifications, but like any copmmercial Jetliner. In the firts phase, would reach an altitude of 65,000 ft. at Mach 2 speed, in the second phase the "protector cone" (reusable and retrievable) of the rocket would be ejected and redirected over uninhabited area - ocean -, water landing with a parachutes and afloat with internal float, in this stage the rocket engine turns on until reach an altitude of 100km.
In the third phase, while the aircraft descends, the rocket engine is turned on again for a few seconds to speed-up at Mach 4 speed and then Scramjet-Ramjet system turns on an altitude of 120,000 ft. accelerating to Mach 6 speed and decelerating when the aircraft is near its destination, to change at Jet propulsion engine, and landing like any commercial Jetliner
SXT-A Iron Speed, article published at LE GRAND MAG n.18
http://www.legrandmag.com/
