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He-112
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The Heinkel He-112 was an unsuccessful pre-war German monoplane fighter, competing for orders with the Bf 109. However it entered rocketry history when tests were conducted with rocket engines.
Crew: 1
Engines: 1 * 680hp Junkers Jumo 210Da
Wing Span: 11.50m Length: 9.00m Height: 3.70m Wing Area: 23.20m2
Empty Weight: 1680kg
Speed: 488km/h Ceiling: 8000m
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Von Braun Rocketplane
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On 6 July 1939 Wernher von Braun proposed to the German Reich Air Ministry a "fighter with rocket drive". The vertical take-off interceptor would use a 10,000 kgf nitric acid/Visol liquid rocket engine to provide an initial acceleration of 2 G's to launch the rocketplane toward attacking bombers.
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Me-163
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The rocket-powered Messerschmitt Me-163 was the world's first and only operational pure rocket fighter and represented the culmination of Alexander Lippisch's years of research in rocketplanes, tail-less aircraft, and high aspect ratio delta wings.
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A9
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Manned, winged boost-glide version of the V-2 missile. It would have been capable of delivering express cargo 600 km from the launch point within 17 minutes. Other variants would form the second stage of the A9/A10 transatlantic missile.
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Lofer Mystery Craft
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There exist in US Army postwar files a murky photo of what some think is a large-scale mock-up of the Saenger antipodal bomber, taken in Lofer, Austria after the end of the World War II. Any assistance in identifying this photography gratefully acknowledged!
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Nonweiler Waverider
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The Nonweiler Waverider of the 1950`s was the original caret wing waverider concept. Developed by Professor Terence R.F. Nonweiler, of Queen's University, Belfast. This was the concept which spawned all the other waverider concepts. The first paper written by Nonweiler on the subject was in 1951.
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Armstrong Whitworth Waverider
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The Armstrong Whitworth Waverider study of the 1950`s called for a two-crew waverider spacecraft powered by a second stage atop a British Blue Streak rocket. To provide symmetric aerodynamics during ascent, two waverider shapes would have been mounted bottom-to-bottom. The "image" waverider shape would contain extra propellant for the manned spacecraft. The group leaders of this project were H R Watson of Armstrong Whitworth, and Dr W F Hilton of Hawker Siddeley. The spacecraft design was by T R F Nonweiler, who worked as a consultant to the project.
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Hawker Siddeley Waverider-1960
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An ambitious Blue Streak / Waverider design study was conducted by Hawker Siddeley Aviation in the 1960's. The project was led by Peter A E Stewart, Astronautics Section, Advanced Projects Group. The waverider spaceplane was to be mated to the top of a liquid hydrogen / liquid oxygen second stage, which was in turn mated to an enhanced (!), winged, 8 engined Blue Streak Rocket. Use of a nuclear upper stage, it was claimed, would permit a British manned lunar landing by 1970....
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Saenger I
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MBB design for a vertical-launch, horizontal landing two-stage winged launch vehicle. The upper stage had a configuration similar to the later US shuttle, with a seventy-degree double-delta wing, except with wingtip fins as on Dyna-Soar. The design effort was funded from 1962-1969 with DM 16.5 million of German government funds.
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RAE Orbital Fighter
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The Royal Aircraft Establishment Orbital Fighter proposal of the 1960's envisioned a two stage vehicle. A ramjet powered first stage would release a second stage orbiter similar to, but smaller than the U.S. X-20 Dyna-Soar. The spaceplane would utilize a gliding re-entry to return to earth.
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VERAS
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A Mach 10 spaceplane demonstrator proposed by Nord Aviation in 1968.
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Hawker Siddeley Waverider-1971
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The Hawker Siddeley Waverider study of 1971 laid out a space vehicle with a waveriding airbreathing hypersonic first stage, and a rocket propelled, lifting body second stage. Orbital payload was to have been 3.5 - 4 metric tons of cargo or a manned, caret-shaped waverider vehicle. In either case the second stage would be recovered from orbit separately.
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Horus
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HORUS (Hypersonic Orbital Upper Stage) was part of the Saenger-II spaceplane studied in Germany from 1985-1993. It would have separated from the lower stage at Mach 6.6 and flown to orbit. One alternate payload was a passenger module for 36 persons.
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Spacebus
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50 passenger orbiter portion of a two-stage vehicle proposed by David Ashford of Bristol Spaceplanes Ltd. in the 1980`s / 1990's.
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Spacecab
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Six passenger orbiter portion of a two-stage vehicle proposed by David Ashford of Bristol Spaceplanes Ltd. in the 1980`s / 1990's. It would serve as the prototype for the even more ambitious Spacebus.
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Ascender
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The Bristol Spaceplanes Ascender of the 1990's was a sub-orbital manned spaceplane concept proposed by David Ashford. The Ascender spaceplane would use a small Viper turbojet engine as well as a main liquid fuel rocket engine. The Ascender would act as a technology demonstrator for the orbiter of the orbital Spacecab concept. In 2001 Ashford proposed the design as an X-Prize contender. However adequate funding was still not forthcoming for development.
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Hytex
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Following the cancellation of Saenger II, Germany briefly considered a manned X-15/NASP type flight test vehicle (HYTEX) capable of Mach 6 flight. This too was cancelled for cost reasons.
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Hermes
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The Hermes spaceplane would have provided independent European manned access to space. Hermes was designed to take three astronauts to orbits of up to 800 km altitude on missions of 30 to 90 days in space. Hermes was to have been launched atop an Ariane 5 by 1998, but by 1992 estimated development costs rose to DM 12 billion and the project was cancelled.
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