---Winwood Reade, 1872

Cargo LV Credit: © Mark Wade

September 2005 NASA baseline heavy-lift vehicle to renew manned lunar exploration by 2018.

The Cargo LV would use two five-segment versions of the shuttle's RSRM rocket motors as lateral boosters (the standard RSRM had four segments). The core would be a stretched version of the shuttle's external tank, with five expendable versions of the shuttle SSME engine mounted on the base. This basic vehicle could deliver 106 tonnes to low earth orbit. However, normally it would be used with an upper stage for manned lunar missions. On such missions the basic vehicle would separate from the upper stage while still suborbital. The upper stage, also based on the external tank but powered by two J-2S engines, would insert itself into an earth parking orbit. Its payload would be a lunar lander. After up to thirty days in orbit, a manned CEV spacecraft would rendezvous and dock with the upper stage and lander. The upper stage would launch the lander and CEV toward the moon, then separate.

For later manned Mars expeditions, four to five launches of the Cargo LV would be required to assemble the Mars spacecraft in low earth orbit.

Manufacturer: NASA. LEO Payload: 106,000 kg. to: 500 km Orbit. at: 51.6 degrees. Payload: 60,000 kg. to a: translunar trajectory. Liftoff Thrust: 3,600,000 kgf. Total Mass: 2,800,000 kg. Core Diameter: 8.40 m. Total Length: 106.80 m.

• Stage Number: 0. 2 x 5 Segment RSRM Gross Mass: 728,000 kg. Empty Mass: 100,000 kg. Thrust (vac): 1,487,000 kgf. Isp: 265 sec. Burn time: 110 sec. Isp(sl): 234 sec. Diameter: 3.77 m. Span: 5.10 m. Length: 53.60 m. Propellants: Solid No Engines: 1. RSRM Status: In development 2003. Comments: Five-segment version of Shuttle RSRM studied in 1999-2003 to increase shuttle payload to ISS. Test fired in 2003 but not proceeded with. Another version proposed in 2005 for use as lateral boosters for the Constellation Cargo Vehicle.

• Stage Number: 1. 1 x Cargo LV Stage 1 Gross Mass: 1,025,000 kg. Empty Mass: 55,000 kg. Thrust (vac): 1,161,508 kgf. Isp: 455 sec. Burn time: 380 sec. Isp(sl): 363 sec. Diameter: 8.40 m. Span: 8.40 m. Length: 64.00 m. Propellants: Lox/LH2 No Engines: 5. SSME Status: Study 2005. Comments: Core vehicle proposed by NASA for Project Constellation exploration of moon and Mars. It would use shuttle external tank tooling. All masses estimated.

• Stage Number: 2. 1 x Cargo LV Stage 2 Gross Mass: 250,000 kg. Empty Mass: 20,000 kg. Thrust (vac): 232,200 kgf. Isp: 426 sec. Burn time: 410 sec. Diameter: 8.40 m. Span: 8.40 m. Length: 21.00 m. Propellants: Lox/LH2 No Engines: 1. SSME Status: Study 2005. Comments: Trans-lunar injection stage proposed by NASA for Project Constellation exploration of moon and Mars. It would use shuttle external tank tooling. All masses estimated.