Reusable launch system

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The first (partially) reusable space launch system, the Space Shuttle Columbia, at its first launch 1981 (STS-1). Space Shuttle Columbia launching cropped 2.jpg
The first (partially) reusable space launch system, the Space Shuttle Columbia, at its first launch 1981 (STS-1).

A reusable launch system is a launch system that allows for the reuse of some or all of the component stages. To date, several fully reusable suborbital systems and partially reusable orbital systems have been flown.

Contents

The first reusable spacecraft to reach orbit was the Space Shuttle (in 1981), which failed to accomplish the intended goal of reducing launch costs to below those of expendable launch systems.

During the 21st century, commercial interest in reusable launch systems has grown considerably, with several active launchers. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has said that if one can figure out how to reuse rockets like airplanes then the cost of access to space will be reduced by as much as a factor of a hundred. [1] SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket has a reusable first stage and capsule (for Dragon flights) with an expendable second stage. SpaceX has been developing a reusable second stage since the late 2010s which, if successful, could make possible the first fully-reusable orbital launch vehicle during the 2020s. Virgin Galactic has flown reusable suborbital spaceplanes, and the suborbital Blue Origin New Shepard rocket has a recoverable boost stage and passenger capsule.

Configurations

Reusable launch systems may be either fully- or partially-reusable.

Fully-reusable launch vehicle

As of June 2022, fully-reusable orbital systems have yet to be built and made operational. Fully-reusable launch vehicles could theoretically be single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) vehicles, as well as multi-stage-to orbit systems.

Three companies are currently in development to achieve fully-reusable launch vehicles as of July 2021. Each of them is working on a two-stage-to-orbit system. SpaceX, with their SpaceX Starship, has been in development since 2016 and is aiming to make an initial test flight of a part of the system capabilities as early as 2022. Relativity Space, with their Terran R beginning development by 2021, is aiming to make an initial orbital launch test by 2024. [2] [3] Blue Origin, with Project Jarvis, began development work by early 2021, but has announced no date for testing, nor even been public with their plans. [4]

Earlier plans to run tests of enhanced reusability on the second stage of the SpaceX Falcon 9 were set aside in 2018.

Partially-reusable launch systems

Partial reusable launch systems, in the form of multiple stage to orbit systems have been so far the only reusable configurations in use.

Liftoff stages

Existing reusable launch systems use rocket-propelled vertical liftoff.[ needs update ]

Other than that a range of non-rocket liftoff systems have been proposed and explored over time as reusable systems for liftoff, from balloons [5] [ relevant? ] to space elevators. Existing examples are systems which employ winged horizontal jet-engine powered liftoff. Such aircraft can air launch expendable rockets and can because of that be considered partially reusable systems if the aircraft is thought of as the first stage of the launch vehicle. An example of this configuration is the Orbital Sciences Pegasus. For suborbital flight the SpaceShipTwo uses for liftoff a carrier plane, its mothership the Scaled Composites White Knight Two.

Orbital insertion stages

So far, launch systems achieve orbital insertion with multistaged rockets, particularly with the second and third stages. Only the Space Shuttle has achieved a partial reuse of the orbital insertion stage, by using the engines of its orbiter.

Reusable orbiter

Launch systems can be combined with reusable orbiters. The Space Shuttle orbiter, SpaceShipTwo and the under-development Indian RLV-TD are examples for a reusable space vehicle (a spaceplane) as well as a part of its launch system.

More contemporarily the Falcon 9 launch system has carried reusable vehicles such as the Dragon 2 and X-37, transporting two reusable vehicles at the same time.

Contemporary reusable orbital vehicles include the X-37, the Dream Chaser, the Dragon 2, the Indian RLV-TD and the upcoming European Space Rider (successor to the IXV).

As with launch vehicles, all pure spacecraft during the early decades of human capacity to achieve spaceflight were designed to be single-use items. This was true both for satellites and space probes intended to be left in space for a long time, as well as any object designed to return to Earth such as human-carrying space capsules or the sample return canisters of space matter collection missions like Stardust (1999–2006) [6] or Hayabusa (2005–2010). [7] [8] Exceptions to the general rule for space vehicles were the US Gemini SC-2, the Soviet Union spacecraft Vozvraschaemyi Apparat (VA), the US Space Shuttle orbiter (mid-1970s-2011, with 135 flights between 1981 and 2011) and the Soviet Buran (1980-1988, with just one uncrewed test flight in 1988). Both of these spaceships were also an integral part of the launch system (providing launch acceleration) as well as operating as medium-duration spaceships in space. This began to change in the mid-2010s.

In the 2010s, the space transport cargo capsule from one of the suppliers resupplying the International Space Station was designed for reuse, and after 2017, [9] NASA began to allow the reuse of the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft on these NASA-contracted transport routes. This was the beginning of design and operation of a reusable space vehicle.

Since then also the Boeing Starliner capsules reduce their fall speed with parachutes and deploy an airbag shortly before touchdown on the ground, in order to retrieve and reuse the vehicle.

As of 2021, SpaceX is currently building and testing the Starship spaceship to be capable of surviving multiple hypersonic reentries through the atmosphere so that they become truly reusable long-duration spaceships; no Starship operational flights have yet occurred.

Entry systems

Heat shield

With possible inflatable heat shields, as developed by the US (Low Earth Orbit Flight Test Inflatable Decelerator - LOFTID) [10] and China, [11] single-use rockets like the Space Launch System are considered to be retrofitted with such heat shields to salvage the expensive engines, possibly reducing the costs of launches significantly. [12]

Retrograde thrust

Launch systems like the Falcon 9 employ for their reusable stages not only at landing retrograde burns, but also at re-entry and even for boostback burns, to return home, instead of only aiming for landing downrange.

Landing systems

Reusable systems can come in single or multiple (two or three) stages to orbit configurations. For some or all stages the following landing system types can be employed.

Types

Braking

These are landing systems that employ parachutes and bolstered hard landings, like in a splashdown at sea or a touchdown at land.

Though such systems have been in use since the beginning of astronautics to recover space vehicles, particularly crewed space capsules, only later have the vehicles been reused.

E.g.:

Horizontal (winged)

Single or main stages, as well as fly-back boosters can employ a horizontal landing system.

Examples are:

A variant is an in-air-capture tow back system, advocated by a company called EMBENTION with its FALCon project. [13]

Vehicles that land horizontally on a runway require wings and undercarriage. These typically consume about 9-12% of the landing vehicle mass,[ citation needed ] which either reduces the payload or increases the size of the vehicle. Concepts such as lifting bodies offer some reduction in wing mass,[ citation needed ] as does the delta wing shape of the Space Shuttle.

Vertical (retrograde)

Systems like the McDonnell Douglas DC-X (Delta Clipper) and those by SpaceX are examples of a retrograde system. The boosters of Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy land using one of their nine engines. The Falcon 9 rocket is the first orbital rocket to vertically land its first stage on the ground. Both stages of Starship are planned to land vertically.

Retrograde landing typically requires about 10% of the total first stage propellant, reducing the payload that can be carried due to the rocket equation. [14]

Landing using aerostatic force

There is also the concept of a launch vehicle with an inflatable, reusable first stage. The shape of this structure will be supported by excess internal pressure (using light gases). It is assumed that the bulk density of the first stage (without propellant) is less than the bulk density of air. Upon returning from flight, such a first stage remains floating in the air (without touching the surface of the Earth). This will ensure that the first stage is retained for reuse. Increasing the size of the first stage increases aerodynamic losses. This results in a slight decrease in payload. This reduction in payload is compensated for by the reuse of the first stage. [15]

Constraints

Extra weight

Reusable stages weigh more than equivalent expendable stages. This is unavoidable due to the supplementary systems, landing gear and/or surplus propellant needed to land a stage. The actual mass penalty depends on the vehicle and the return mode chosen. [16]

Refurbishment

After the launcher lands, it may need to be refurbished to prepare it for its next flight. This process may be lengthy and expensive. The launcher may not be able to be recertified as human-rated after refurbishment, although SpaceX has flown reused Falcon 9 boosters for human missions. There is eventually a limit on how many times a launcher can be refurbished before it has to be retired, but how often a spacecraft can be reused differs significantly between the various launch system designs.

History

With the development of rocket propulsion in the first half of the twentieth century, space travel became a technical possibility.

Early ideas of a single-stage reusable spaceplane proved unrealistic and although even the first practical rocket vehicles (V-2) could reach the fringes of space, reusable technology was too heavy. In addition many early rockets were developed to deliver weapons, making reuse impossible by design. The problem of mass efficiency was overcome by using multiple expendable stages in a vertical-launch multistage rocket. USAF and NACA had been studying orbital reusable spaceplanes since 1958, e.g. Dyna-Soar, but the first reusable stages did not fly until the advent of the US Space Shuttle in 1981.

20th century

McDonnell Douglas DC-X used vertical takeoff and vertical landing McDonnell Douglas DC-XA.jpg
McDonnell Douglas DC-X used vertical takeoff and vertical landing

Perhaps the first reusable launch vehicles were the ones conceptualized and studied by Wernher von Braun from 1948 until 1956. The Von Braun Ferry Rocket underwent two revisions: once in 1952 and again in 1956. They would have landed using parachutes. [17] [18]

The General Dynamics Nexus was proposed in the 1960s as a fully reusable successor to the Saturn V rocket, having the capacity of transporting up to 450–910 t (990,000–2,000,000 lb) to orbit. [19] [20] See also Sea Dragon, and Douglas SASSTO.

The BAC Mustard was studied starting in 1964. It would have comprised three identical spaceplanes strapped together and arranged in two stages. During ascent the two outer spaceplanes, which formed the first stage, would detach and glide back individually to earth. It was canceled after the last study of the design in 1967 due to a lack of funds for development. [21]

NASA started the Space Shuttle design process in 1968, with the vision of creating a fully reusable spaceplane using a crewed fly-back booster. This concept proved expensive and complex, therefore the design was scaled back to reusable solid rocket boosters and an expendable external tank. [22] [23] Space Shuttle Columbia launched and landed 27 times and was lost with all crew on the 28th landing attempt; Challenger launched and landed 9 times and was lost with all crew on the 10th launch attempt; Discovery launched and landed 39 times; Atlantis launched and landed 33 times.

In 1986 President Ronald Reagan called for an air-breathing scramjet National Aerospace Plane (NASP)/X-30. The project failed due to technical issues and was canceled in 1993. [24]

In the late 1980s a fully reusable version of the Energia rocket, the Energia II, was proposed. Its boosters and core would have had the capability of landing separately on a runway. [25]

In the 1990s the McDonnell Douglas Delta Clipper VTOL SSTO proposal progressed to the testing phase. The DC-X prototype demonstrated rapid turnaround time and automatic computer control.

In mid-1990s, British research evolved an earlier HOTOL design into the far more promising Skylon design, which remains in development.

From the late 1990s to the 2000s, the European Space Agency studied the recovery of the Ariane 5 solid rocket boosters. [26] The last recovery attempt took place in 2009. [27]

The commercial ventures, Rocketplane Kistler and Rotary Rocket, attempted to build reusable privately developed rockets before going bankrupt.[ citation needed ]

NASA proposed reusable concepts to replace the Shuttle technology, to be demonstrated under the X-33 and X-34 programs, which were both cancelled in the early 2000s due to rising costs and technical issues.

21st century

Scaled Composites SpaceShipOne used horizontal landing after being launched from a carrier airplane Kluft-photo-SS1-landing-June-2004-Img 1406c.jpg
Scaled Composites SpaceShipOne used horizontal landing after being launched from a carrier airplane
Falcon Heavy side boosters landing during 2018 demonstration mission. Falcon Heavy Side Boosters landing on LZ1 and LZ2 - 2018 (25254688767).jpg
Falcon Heavy side boosters landing during 2018 demonstration mission.

The Ansari X Prize contest was intended to develop private suborbital reusable vehicles. Many private companies competed, with the winner, Scaled Composites, reaching the Kármán line twice in a two-week period with their reusable SpaceShipOne.

In 2012, SpaceX started a flight test program with experimental vehicles. These subsequently led to the development of the Falcon 9 reusable rocket launcher. [28]

On 23 November 2015 the New Shepard rocket became the first Vertical Take-off, Vertical Landing (VTVL) sub-orbital rocket to reach space by passing the Kármán line (100 km or 62 mi), reaching 329,839 ft (100,535 m) before returning for a propulsive landing. [29] [30]

SpaceX achieved the first vertical soft landing of a reusable orbital rocket stage on December 21, 2015, after delivering 11 Orbcomm OG-2 commercial satellites into low Earth orbit. [31]

The first reuse of a Falcon 9 first stage occurred on 30 March 2017. [32] SpaceX now semi-routinely recovers and reuses their first stages, as well as reusing fairings. [33]

In 2019 Rocket Lab announced plans to recover and reuse the first stage of their Electron launch vehicle, intending to use parachutes and mid-air retrieval. [34] On 20 November 2020, Rocket Lab successfully returned an Electron first stage from an orbital launch, the stage softly splashing down in the Pacific Ocean. [35]

China is researching the reusability of the Long March 8 system. [36]

As of May 2020, the only operational reusable orbital-class launch systems are the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy, the latter of which is based upon the Falcon 9. SpaceX is also developing the fully-reusable Starship launch system, [37] and Blue Origin is developing its own New Glenn partially-reusable orbital rocket, as it is intending to recover and reuse only the first stage.

5 October 2020, Roscosmos signed a development contract for Amur a new launcher with a reusable first stage. [38]

In December 2020, ESA signed contracts to start developing THEMIS, a prototype reusable first stage launcher. [39]

List of reusable launch systems

CompanyVehicleCountryTypeStatusRecoveredRelaunchedNotes
SpaceX Falcon 9 USOrbitalOperational11594First stage and fairing reusable.
SpaceX Falcon Heavy USOrbitalOperational??First stage core, side boosters and fairing reusable.
SpaceX Starship USOrbitalUnder development00Fully reusable.
Rocket Lab Electron New ZealandOrbitalOperational40First stage recovered but not yet reused.
Rocket Lab Neutron New ZealandOrbitalUnder developmentFirst stage and fairing reusable
Blue Origin New Shepard USSuborbitalOperational2017Fully reusable
Blue Origin New Glenn USOrbitalUnder developmentFirst stage reusable
Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo (VSS Unity)USSuborbitalOperational54Designed for space tourism. Fully reusable
Virgin Galactic SpaceShipThree (VSS Imagine)USSuborbitalPrototypeDesigned for space tourism. Fully reusable
United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur USOrbitalUnder developmentFirst stage engine module reusable in a later development.
NASA Space Shuttle USOrbitalRetired133128Orbiter and side boosters reusable
NPO-Energia Energia-Buran or OK-GLI USSROrbitalRetired10Only Buran orbiter payload reusable; Energia launcher fully expended.
ISRO RLV TSTO IndiaOrbitalUnder developmentTwo Stage to Orbit with initial upper stage reusability and eventual full reusability
PLD Space Miura 5 SpainOrbitalUnder developmentFirst stage reusable.
I-space Hyperbola-2ChinaOrbitalUnder developmentPrototype
Galactic Energy Pallas-1 ChinaOrbitalUnder developmentPrototype, planned to feature vertical first stage recovery
China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology Long March 8 ChinaOrbitalUnder developmentFirst stage and attached boosters reusable
Roscosmos Amur RussiaOrbitalUnder developmentPrototype
ESA Themis EUOrbitalUnder developmentPrototype, aiming for first stage reuse
Relativity Space Terran RUSOrbitalUnder developmentFirst fully reusable 3D printed rocket

See also

Related Research Articles

Space Shuttle Partially reusable launch system and spaceplane

The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program name was Space Transportation System (STS), taken from a 1969 plan for a system of reusable spacecraft where it was the only item funded for development. The first (STS-1) of four orbital test flights occurred in 1981, leading to operational flights (STS-5) beginning in 1982. Five complete Space Shuttle orbiter vehicles were built and flown on a total of 135 missions from 1981 to 2011, launched from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. Operational missions launched numerous satellites, interplanetary probes, and the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), conducted science experiments in orbit, participated in the Shuttle-Mir program with Russia, and participated in construction and servicing of the International Space Station (ISS). The Space Shuttle fleet's total mission time was 1,323 days.

Single-stage-to-orbit Launch system that only uses one rocket stage

A single-stage-to-orbit vehicle reaches orbit from the surface of a body using only propellants and fluids and without expending tanks, engines, or other major hardware. The term usually, but not exclusively, refers to reusable vehicles. To date, no Earth-launched SSTO launch vehicles have ever been flown; orbital launches from Earth have been performed by either fully or partially expendable multi-stage rockets.

Spacecraft Vehicle or machine designed to fly in space

A spacecraft is a vehicle or machine designed to fly in outer space. A type of artificial satellite, spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, Earth observation, meteorology, navigation, space colonization, planetary exploration, and transportation of humans and cargo. All spacecraft except single-stage-to-orbit vehicles cannot get into space on their own, and require a launch vehicle.

Space Shuttle program 1972–2011 United States human spaceflight program

The Space Shuttle program was the fourth human spaceflight program carried out by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which accomplished routine transportation for Earth-to-orbit crew and cargo from 1981 to 2011. Its official name, Space Transportation System (STS), was taken from a 1969 plan for a system of reusable spacecraft of which it was the only item funded for development. It flew 135 missions and carried 355 astronauts from 16 countries, many on multiple trips.

Human spaceflight programs have been conducted, started, or planned by multiple countries and companies. Until the 21st century, human spaceflight programs were sponsored exclusively by governments, through either the military or civilian space agencies. With the launch of the privately funded SpaceShipOne in 2004, a new category of human spaceflight programs – commercial human spaceflight – arrived. As of July 2021, three countries and one private company (SpaceX) have launched humans to Earth orbit, and two private companies have launched humans on a suborbital trajectory. The criteria for what constitutes human spaceflight vary. The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale defines spaceflight as any flight over 100 kilometers (62 mi). In the United States professional, military, and commercial astronauts who travel above an altitude of 80 kilometers (50 mi) are awarded the United States Astronaut Badge. This article follows the FAI definition of spaceflight.

Booster (rocketry) Rocket used to augment the thrust of a larger rocket

A booster rocket is either the first stage of a multistage launch vehicle, or else a shorter-burning rocket used in parallel with longer-burning sustainer rockets to augment the space vehicle's takeoff thrust and payload capability. Boosters are traditionally necessary to launch spacecraft into low Earth orbit, and are especially important for a space vehicle to go beyond Earth orbit. The booster is dropped to fall back to Earth once its fuel is expended, a point known as booster engine cut-off (BECO).

Spaceplane Spacecraft capable of aerodynamic flight in atmosphere

A spaceplane is a vehicle that can fly and glide like an aircraft in Earth's atmosphere and maneuver like a spacecraft in outer space. To do so, spaceplanes must incorporate features of both aircraft and spacecraft. Orbital spaceplanes tend to be more similar to conventional spacecraft, while sub-orbital spaceplanes tend to be more similar to fixed-wing aircraft. All spaceplanes to date have been rocket-powered but then landed as unpowered gliders.

Space vehicle Combination of launch vehicle and spacecraft

A space vehicle is the combination of a spacecraft and its launch vehicle which carries it into space. The earliest space vehicles were expendable launch systems, using a single or multistage rocket to carry a relatively small spacecraft in proportion to the total vehicle size and mass. An early exception to this, the Space Shuttle, consisted of a reusable orbital vehicle carrying crew and payload, supported by an expendable external propellant tank and two reusable solid-fuel booster rockets.

Boeing X-37 Reusable robotic spaceplane

The Boeing X-37, also known as the Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV), is a reusable robotic spacecraft. It is boosted into space by a launch vehicle, then re-enters Earth's atmosphere and lands as a spaceplane. The X-37 is operated by the United States Space Force, and was previously operated by Air Force Space Command until 2019 for orbital spaceflight missions intended to demonstrate reusable space technologies. It is a 120-percent-scaled derivative of the earlier Boeing X-40. The X-37 began as a NASA project in 1999, before being transferred to the United States Department of Defense in 2004.

Dream Chaser US reusable automated cargo lifting-body spaceplane

Dream Chaser is an American reusable lifting-body spaceplane being developed by Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) Space Systems. Originally intended as a crewed vehicle, the Dream Chaser Space System is set to be produced after the cargo variant, Dream Chaser Cargo System, is operational. The crewed variant is planned to carry up to seven people and cargo to and from low Earth orbit.

Launch vehicle Rocket used to carry an object into space

A launch vehicle or carrier rocket is a rocket-propelled vehicle used to carry a payload from Earth's surface to space, usually to Earth orbit or beyond. A launch system includes the launch vehicle, launch pad, vehicle assembly and fuelling systems, range safety, and other related infrastructure.

Falcon 9 Partially reusable orbital launch vehicle by SpaceX

Falcon 9 is a two-stage-to-orbit (TSTO) medium-lift launch vehicle (MLV) that is designed and manufactured by SpaceX. Unlike most rockets in service, which are expendable launch systems, Falcon 9 is partially reusable, with the first stage capable of re-entering the atmosphere and landing vertically after separating from the second stage. This feat was achieved for the first time on flight 20 in December 2015. Since then, SpaceX has successfully landed boosters over a hundred times, with individual first stages flying as many as thirteen times.

<i>Buran</i> (spacecraft) Soviet winged orbital vehicle

Buran was the first spaceplane to be produced as part of the Soviet/Russian Buran programme. Besides describing the first operational Soviet/Russian shuttle orbiter, "Buran" was also the designation for the entire Soviet/Russian spaceplane project and its orbiters, which were known as "Buran-class orbiters".

VTVL Method of takeoff and landing used by rockets; Vertical Takeoff, Vertical Landing

Vertical takeoff, vertical landing (VTVL) is a form of takeoff and landing for rockets. Multiple VTVL craft have flown. The most widely known and commercially successful VTVL rocket is SpaceX's Falcon 9 first stage.

Falcon Heavy Heavy-lift orbital launch vehicle made by SpaceX

Falcon Heavy is a partially reusable heavy-lift launch vehicle designed and manufactured by SpaceX. It is derived from the Falcon 9 vehicle and consists of a strengthened Falcon 9 first stage as the center core with two additional Falcon 9 first stages serving as strap-on boosters. Falcon Heavy has the highest payload capacity of any currently operational launch vehicle and the third-highest capacity of any rocket ever to reach orbit, trailing the Saturn V and Energia.

Aircraft can have different ways to take off and land. Conventional airplanes accelerate along the ground until sufficient lift is generated for takeoff, and reverse the process to land. Some airplanes can take off at low speed, this being a short takeoff. Some aircraft such as helicopters and Harrier Jump Jets can take off and land vertically. Rockets also usually take off vertically, but some designs can land horizontally.

SpaceX reusable launch system development program Effort by SpaceX to make rockets that can fly multiple times

SpaceX is privately funding the development of orbital launch systems that can be reused many times, in a manner similar to the reusability of aircraft. SpaceX has been developing the technologies over several years to facilitate full and rapid reusability of space launch vehicles. The project's long-term objectives include returning a launch vehicle first stage to the launch site in minutes and to return a second stage to the launch pad following orbital realignment with the launch site and atmospheric reentry in up to 24 hours. SpaceX's long term goal is that both stages of their orbital launch vehicle will be designed to allow reuse a few hours after return.

The DARPA XS-1 was an experimental spaceplane/booster with the planned capability to deliver small satellites into orbit for the U.S. Military. It was reported to be designed to be reusable as frequently as once a day, with a stated goal of doing so for 10 days straight. The XS-1 was intended to directly replace the first stage of a multistage rocket by taking off vertically and flying to hypersonic speed and high suborbital altitude, enabling one or more expendable upper stages to separate and deploy a payload into low Earth orbit. The XS-1 would then return to Earth, where it could ostensibly be serviced fast enough to repeat the process at least once every 24 hours.

Super heavy-lift launch vehicle Launch vehicle capable of lifting more than 50 tonnes of payload into low earth orbit

A super heavy-lift launch vehicle (SHLLV) is a launch vehicle capable of lifting more than 50 tonnes (110,000 lb) or 100 tonnes (220,000 lb) of payload into low Earth orbit (LEO), more than a heavy-lift launch vehicle.

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  36. ↑ "China to test rocket reusability with planned Long March 8 launcher". SpaceNews.com. 2018-04-30. Archived from the original on 2021-10-01. Retrieved 2020-10-04.
  37. ↑ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine : Elon Musk (29 September 2017). Becoming a Multiplanet Species (video). 68th annual meeting of the International Astronautical Congress in Adelaide, Australia: SpaceX. Retrieved 2017-12-31– via YouTube.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  38. ↑ "Trouble-free as a Kalashnikov assault rifle: the Amur methane rocket" (in Russian). Roscosmos. 5 October 2020. Archived from the original on 6 October 2020. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  39. ↑ "ESA plans demonstration of a reusable rocket stage". Space Daily. Archived from the original on 2020-12-16. Retrieved 2020-12-19.

Bibliography

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