As we have a nuclear reactor, why not add an EM drive? EM is Elon's initials so he definitely knows more about it than he is telling. For interplanetary journeys an ion engine would be advantageous, lets add some of those, the ones that have been used on satellites work perfectly well, but it is probably best to use VASIMIR although that has still not flown, will need a nuclear reactor for power. Perhaps SpaceX could use one of Blue Origin's rocket engines. The fuel for the ship should be changed to hydrogen, that is better for upper stages as it has higher Isp. The above design is so simple I'm thinking that it can be improved. I hope you agree that this design is counter-intuitive, it is also definitely going to speed up the development as they can reuse F9 cores after altering every component in them. Oh I forgot, the whole stack is carried to altitude by an aircraft, Elon said "Roc what is that a children's toy?" so it had to be included. The legorons are so arranged that the ship lands at an angle from the vertical. The legorons are arranged such that one is underneath, but perhaps on top.įins extend out of the ends the legorons to adjust aerodynamics. This allow the cargo and crew areas to be split between opposite ends of the ship. The ship's engines are in three pods towards the bottom. The ship has legorons and canards (as do the other stages, for maximum commonality), it also has strakes down the sides and wings (which it will need for flying in the upper atmosphere to bleed off speed). The second stage lands vertically on its one and only engine (oops it has multiple engines down its side, lets hope no-one notices)(oops again, it lands horizontally). Then when the second stage is empty, they both rotate 180 degrees, separate, then the ship rotates 180 degrees and proceeds to orbit. The ship is actually underneath the second stage, so propellant is transferred from the second stage to the ship. The ship can be a third stage, it has the same OML as the second stage, even though it has different requirement. On stage separation, rotate the second stage before lighting the engines The landing pad can be a simple concrete slab so pour concrete over the carrier's deck.Ī second stage is needed, why not make it land horizontally. It can land downrange on an aircraft carrier