Mark Megahan
Ever since the rocket pioneering days of Robert Goddard, aerospace engineers have been dreaming of a true space plane. NASA’s “shuttle” designs eliminated one half of the problem with a “dead stick” glide all the way from orbit, to land on a runway. So far, nothing can take off the same way. Radian Aerospace solved that challenge.
Radian One space plane
On January 19, Radian Aerospace broke the cover of secrecy surrounding their work to announce “that it had secured $27.5 million in funding.”
That big pile of cash is earmarked to develop “Radian One,” described as “a first-of-its-kind space plane that flies into orbit after taking off horizontally from the ground.”
Insiders explain that not only has nobody been able to build such a craft before, the space plane design would “likely cut the cost of spaceflight significantly, enabling new opportunities for off-world research, manufacturing, exploration, and more.”
As Radian’s CEO and co-founder Richard Humphrey proudly proclaims, “we believe that widespread access to space means limitless opportunities for humankind.”
“Over time,” Humphrey promises, their space plane will “make space travel nearly as simple and convenient as airliner travel.” The biggest benefit is that they’re reusable. Unlike all the other craft capable of reaching orbit and returning, Radian One “can land anywhere there’s a standard commercial airplane runway.”
No need to put the spaceport in some inconvenient desert. This ship can land at O’Hare. It won’t be long before serial stowaway Marilyn Hartman will be trying to board without a pass.
Smaller and lighter
Three designs have come close to a full space plane concept. NASA’s Space Shuttle, Boeing’s X-37B, and the Soviet Buran.
All three have the same limitation of requiring a vertical launch. They also depend on booster stages which detach and fall back to Earth once orbit is achieved.
The Radian One concept calls for a smaller and lighter two-stage-to-orbit space plane. While they don’t need extra engines and fuel tanks to go with them, they still need a whole lot of go juice. “More fuel is needed for launch as the first stage rockets have to lift the space planes and themselves high above Earth’s surface.” The Radian One is designed for a crew of five and can haul “up to 5,000 pounds of cargo.”
It launches “horizontally on top of a rocket-powered sled.” Just like one of those rubber band slingshot glider toys, the “sled will accelerate down a runway before Radian One detaches and takes off.”
After the catapult launch from the ground, “Radian One will then complete a low-g ascent into space under the power of its three onboard engines.”
After completing its mission, which could last up to five days, the orbiter will land horizontally on a runway like an airplane. One of the best design features is the quick turnaround time between flights. “Radian aims to have its space plane ready to fly again within 48 hours of landing.“
