Advanced Rockets Corporation (ARC) report it has been granted a Space Vehicle Systems patent featuring a unique architecture for multiple applications, including space launch, national defense, and high-speed civil aviation.
The patent also addresses critical factors for reducing the cost of access to space, including, high-utilization, Continuous Intact Abort Capability (CIAC), and reusability.
It also further increases the total number of patent protected systems and design details and effectively extends the protection period for ARC’s vehicle systems, allowing ARC to maintain a key market advantage in launch and the hypersonic arenas.
Using a common framework, the new Space Vehicle system can be used in a multitude of applications, including launch vehicles that will spend significant time within the atmosphere for efficient airbreathing purposes, hypersonic missile systems for military defense, and high-speed civil aviation.
“Aerospace Engineers have worked for decades to find a viable solution for the challenges of high-speed flight within the atmosphere with the possibility of taking advantage of the improved efficiency of an airbreathing system,” said Othniel Mbamalu, Founder and President of ARC.
“However, the huge surface area of high-speed vehicles that needs to be kept within tolerable thermal limits have limited the ability to do this. Our patent opens up that possibility with great promise.”
In preliminary studies it has been demonstrated that ARC’s patented vehicle system requires at least 20 percent fuel compared to a baseline vehicle, such as an Atlas Launch vehicle of similar proportions. With this patent, launch vehicles will be able to operate efficiently in high speed flows, reducing drag as well as thermal and mechanical loads on the vehicle, compared to any other vehicle of similar proportions.
ARC’s patented vehicle system also enhances the possibility of low-cost access to space due to its ability to operate with a vast range of propulsion and abort systems, making it suitable for safe Intact Aborts in a launch system, according to ARC research findings. Safe abort capability is one of the most critical factors in cost efficient access to space.
“This new patent demonstrates the incredible growth potential of our vehicle, and also brings us one step closer to making low-cost access to space for civilians a reality within our lifetime,” he said.
This article was first published on spacedaily.com