Raked circular-cone aerobraking orbital transfer vehicle

An aerobraking orbital vehicle, which comprises:

• (a) an aerobraking shield having:
• (i) a raked-off circular-cone configuration with a forwardly extending nose;
• (ii) at least one rocket engine carried by said aerobraking shield;
• (iii) an elliptically shaped base having a major diameter in a pitch direction and a minor diameter in a yaw direction;
• and
• (iv) a faired frustrum geometry;
• the combination of said frustrum geometry and said major diameter of said elliptical base in a pitch direction resulting in a base flow clearance angle greater than the base flow turning angle of said shield to avoid reattachment of the air stream to the vehicle and resultant undesirable heat transfer from the air stream to the vehicle;
• (b) at least one fuel tank connected to supply fuel to said at least one rocket engine;
• and
• (c) an afterbody behind said aerobraking shield, said afterbody having a lengthwise orientation extending rearwardly of said aerobraking shield substantially along the line on which the center of gravity shifts, said at least one rocket engine, at least one fuel tank, and said afterbody being positioned substantially along a resultant-force vector coinciding with said line on which the center of gravity shifts.

An aerobraking orbital transfer vehicle, which comprises:

• (a) an aerobraking shield having:
• (i) a raked-off circular-cone configuration with a forwardly extending blunted nose;
• (ii) at least one rocket engine carried by said aerobraking shield;
• (iii) an elliptically shaped base having a minor diameter in a yaw direction and a major diameter in a pitch direction;
• and
• (iv) a faired frustrum terminating in said elliptically shaped base;
• the combination of said frustrum geometry and said major diameter of said elliptical base in a pitch direction resulting in a base flow clearance angle of from about 20.degree. to about 25.degree. which is greater than the base flow turning angle of said shield to avoid reattachment of the air stream to the vehicle and resultant undesirable heat transfer from the sir stream to the vehicle;
• (b) at least one fuel tank connected to supply fuel to said at least one rocket engine;
• and
• (c) an afterbody behind said aerobraking shield, said afterbody being positioned to extend beyond an airflow reattachment point which would occur with a raked-off elliptical-cone configuration aerobraking shield and short of an air flow reattachment point for said raked-off circular-cone aerobraking shield, said afterbody having a lengthwise orientation extending rearwardly of said aerobraking shield substantially along the line on which the center of gravity shifts, said at least one rocket engine, at least one fuel tank, and said afterbody being positioned substantially along a resultant-force vector coinciding with said line on which the center of gravity shifts.