The forward nozzles are to help package things so the rocket tail clears
the ground when the F-15 rotates for takeoff, as I understand it.
ALASA used a similar configuration, until they cancelled it because the
nitrous-acetylene monopropellant wasn't stable (as discussed
voluminously here a few weeks back.) (The reason they wanted a
high-energy monoprop seems clear; ALASA was to have lifted as much as
100 pounds within the same overall size limits imposed by the F-15
carrier, considerably more than the LOX-kero biprop SALVO's single 3u
cubesat.)
I'd be skeptical about the article's speculation that SALVO is already
in service, both because that seems faster development than likely, and
because the SALVO payload seems more appropriate to a proof-of-concept
demonstrator than to any useful operational mission.
On 12/30/2015 3:40 PM, Thomas McNeill wrote:
Interesting rocket. The engines are forward and it appears to drop the
tank below it. Two stages and one set of engines.
"Note four rocket engine nozzles that power both the first and then
second stage after first stage propellant tank separates. Photo Credit
DARPA."
On Wed, Dec 30, 2015 at 5:33 PM, <qbert@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:qbert@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
I'm not sure if anyone saw this but I found it while researching
the Northrop TR108 peroxide motor.
What's rather interesting that Ventions, the Company running
this for DARPA and NASA, parallels a lot of what we have
been talking here on Arocket.
http://www.americaspace.com/?p=83211
Robert