AAWSAP DIRD, Space Access: Where We’ve Been and Where We Could Go, March 2010

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Rocket Powered
Hypersonic Glider
Combined Cycle
Airbreather Powered
Hypersonic Cruiser
Figure 4. Hypersonic Rocket-Powered Glider and Hypersonic Air-Breathing Cruiser
The second configuration is for air-breathing propulsion systems operating at between
mach 6 and mach 14 that require a propulsion-configured vehicle, where the underside
of the vehicle is an integral part of the propulsion system (forming most of the air­
capturing inlet). This is typified by the lower-right vehicle in Figure 4. The thermally
integrated, air-breathing, combined-cycle configuration concept is derived from the
McDonnell Douglas (St. Louis) Advanced Design organization. The vehicle concept
initially conceived in the late 1950s and early 1960s was an air-breathing propulsion­
configured vehicle accelerated by a main rocket in the aft end of the body, as shown in
Figure 3. The vehicle's underside is the propulsion system; the engine is in the engine
module.
Both basic shapes are functions of tau-that is, for a given planform area, the cross­
sectional distribution is determined by the volume required. Tau was reported in
D. Kuchemann's book on supersonic aerodynamics6 as:
V
'C =
total
(1)
s1.5
plan
The only configuration discussed in the book in any detail is the rocket-powered
hypersonic glider. The hypersonic glider has greater near-term potential to become an
operational system, considering the failure of the National Aerospace Plane (NASP) to
reach a functional hardware stage.
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