RU2211784C2 - Recoverable boost vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: aircraft and rocket manufacture. SUBSTANCE: proposed boost vehicle has front swept- back wing, compartments with cruise air-jet engines, fuel compartments, landing gear, power supply sources, navigational equipment and members for attachment and separation of payload in flight. Vehicle is also provided with rear swept-forward wing which is shifted relative to its longitudinal and transversal axes. Compartments with cruise engines and both wings form single rigid construction. Located in lower part of engine compartment (in way of flight) is landing gear oriented for vertical takeoff and landing. Fuel compartments and navigational equipment are located in engine compartments and in both wings. Vehicle is provided with crew cabin mounted on first wing. EFFECT: reduced aerodynamic resistance at high supersonic speeds. 2 cl, 1 dwg

Description

 The invention relates to the field of aircraft and rocket science, in particular to booster aircraft, reusable booster vehicles and / or booster stages.

 The invention can be used to create booster aircraft and reusable booster stages for accelerating carrier rockets with spacecraft (SC) in order to launch spacecraft into near-earth orbits and take-off trajectories, as well as for experimental flight testing of new aircraft (LA), including discharged in flight, and high-speed engines and their units, as well as avionics and equipment.

 A reusable booster aircraft is known to perform the function of a booster aircraft, known as the Hercules aircraft (see, for example, a report on the report at the 7th AIAA International Conference, G.E. Lozino-Lozinsky et al. MAKS project and prospects 7th International Spaceplanes and Hypersonics Systems & Technology Conference, November 18-22, 1996, Norfolk, VA), made according to the “triplane” scheme with two fuselages and three bearing planes spaced along the longitudinal and vertical axes, with suspended under the consoles of the middle wing by turbojet engines. The middle wing consoles are conjugated in such a way that they allow the suspension of missile stages to be suspended or the installation of cargo and other non-resettable compartments. The existing chassis allows horizontal take-off and horizontal landing from airfields not lower than the first class.

 However, the described aircraft, which performs the function of an accelerating first stage, does not provide supersonic speed when separating rocket stages, which significantly reduces its effectiveness as an accelerating stage for launching spacecraft into outer space. "Hercules" basically can not be used for experimental flight testing of aircraft at supersonic speeds without separating them from the aircraft.

A reusable booster aircraft (booster aircraft) is known that performs the function of a booster first stage in a two-stage reusable MIGAKS aerospace aircraft (see, for example, a report on the report at the 10th international conference AIAA, NPDulepov and others. Propulsion Systems For TSTO Airplane - Accelerators of different types. 10-th Internationals Space Planes and Hypersonic Systems and Technologies Conference, April 24-27, 2001, Kyoto, Japan) containing supersonic aerodynamic-bearing supporting planes, jet engines and payload fasteners. However, this reusable booster aircraft has a number of technical problems, including:
- excessive temperature heating of the structure due to the prolonged phase of acceleration,
- a sufficiently large aerodynamic drag due to the presence of a wing of a large area optimized for subsonic and supersonic flight modes,
- the complex dynamics of separation of an orbital plane at high supersonic speed,
- unsatisfactory take-off and landing characteristics due to the supersonic wing, which are compensated by the increase in wing area and, as a consequence, the increase in aerodynamic drag at supersonic flight speeds.

The objective of the invention is the creation of a reusable aircraft-accelerator - payload with the achievement of technical results, which are:
- reduction of aerodynamic drag at high supersonic flight speeds,
- reduction of thermal loads by reducing acceleration time,
- simplification of the dynamics of the separation of the payload,
- refusal to use the runway (runway).

 The problem is solved due to the fact that a reusable accelerator aircraft containing supporting planes of a supersonic aerodynamic shape, equipped with air-jet engines as a propulsion system, as well as fastening elements of the accelerated payload, in accordance with the invention is a “biplane”, wings which are spaced along the longitudinal and transverse axes, while the front wing has a direct sweep and is shifted upward along the Y axis relative to the center of mass, and the rear wing has the form a distinct sweep and is located below the center of mass, the engine compartments oriented along the longitudinal axis of the product are located at the ends of the wings and form a single rigid structure with them, and the engines are equipped with rotary nozzles-nozzles that provide thrust vector control, the chassis located in the rear part of the engine compartments, and are oriented for vertical take-off and landing, and the payload fastening elements are placed with the possibility of its fastening and separation during flight from the lower part to the upper wing, while the power sources, fuel compartments and navigation equipment are located both in the engine compartments and in the wings of the upper stage. In this case, the cockpit can be installed on the front wing.

 The proposed reusable flying vehicle-accelerator (MLAR) is shown in the attached drawing in three projections.

 MLAR contains bearing planes of a supersonic aerodynamic shape that are spaced along the longitudinal and transverse axes, while the front wing 1 has a direct sweep and is shifted upward along the Y axis relative to the center of mass, the rear wing 2 has a reverse sweep and is located below the front wing.

 Compartments with mid-flight engines 3 are oriented along the longitudinal axis of the stage, located on the periphery of the wings, connected by wings and form a single rigid structure with them, and engines with air intakes 4 are equipped with rotary nozzles-nozzles 5 that provide thrust vector control. The chassis 6 is located in the rear of the flight of the engine compartments and is oriented for vertical take-off and landing.

 The fastening elements of the accelerated payload 7, for example, a rocket stage in the form of a front suspension mechanism 8 and a rear suspension mechanism 9. Aerodynamic controls are installed on the engine compartments 10. Navigation, communication and other equipment, fuel (special) compartments 11, and also power sources can be placed in any compartment MLAR. MLAR can be equipped with detachable or non-detachable payload compartments.

 MLAR take-off and landing is carried out vertically, in this case, the longitudinal axis of the MLAR, which coincides with the direction of motion at the time of launch, is directed along the gravity force vector. After a vertical take-off, the MLAR, in accordance with the flight program, goes to a predetermined course and, upon reaching a certain flight point, separates the payload, which continues to fly into space, and the MLAR returns to the runway. MLAR also lands vertically.

 Reduced aerodynamic drag is achieved by reducing the area of the wings, the use of supersonic profiles and swept wings.

 The reduction of thermal loads is achieved by reducing the acceleration time, which in turn is due to the use of a marching propulsion system, which provides starting thrust-weight ratio of more than one.

 The improvement of dynamic characteristics at the stage of separation of the payload is achieved by ensuring the unimpeded movement of the payload in the direction of the attractive force and due to the appearance of oppositely directed forces acting on the MLAR and the payload.

 At the time of separation, a payload that does not have sufficient lifting force will move downward relative to the MLAR under the action of gravity. At the same time, the MLAR, freed from a significant part of the weight, with the same spatial orientation, having the same lifting force and significantly lower total aerodynamic drag, under the action of the lifting force will move upward relative to the separated payload. Thus, the dynamics of the separation stage is simplified, which leads to an increase in the reliability of the separation.

 The presence of a propulsion system, which provides starting thrust-to-weight ratio of more than one, allows for vertical landing, using special control algorithms for approach and landing. At the same time, the horizontal component of the landing speed is close to zero, which allows landing and landing on a special limited area of substantially smaller dimensions than the runway (than the standard runway).

 Thus, the proposed reusable booster aircraft allows to significantly improve the characteristics of known reusable booster stages with jet engines, which is achieved by a rational combination of structural elements optimized for flight at high supersonic speeds. At the same time, the presence of poor takeoff and landing characteristics during horizontal flight at low speeds is compensated by the vertical landing method with a high propulsion of propulsion systems, which, in turn, eliminates the use of runways and is limited by the presence of small special platforms for takeoff and landing. Minimization of aerodynamic drag at high supersonic flight speeds through the use of special supersonic forms can reduce acceleration time and, as a result, reduce thermal loading of the structure.

Claims (2)

 1. A reusable payload dispersal aircraft comprising a forward sweep front wing, compartments with mid-flight jet engines, fuel compartments, landing gear, power supplies, navigation equipment, fasteners and in-flight compartments of said payload, characterized in that it equipped with a rear wing of reverse sweep, which is offset from the front wing along the longitudinal and transverse axes, compartments with mid-flight engines are located at the ends of both wings along of the axis so that the compartments with mid-flight engines and both wings form a single rigid structure, the landing gear is located in the rear part of the compartments with mid-flight engines oriented with the possibility of vertical take-off and landing, and the fuel compartments and navigation equipment are located as in compartments with mid-flight engines so in both wings.  2. Aircraft booster according to claim 1, characterized in that it is equipped with a crew cabin, which is installed on the front wing.