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Zerraspace — Descendant Class - Reusable Orbiter and Lander

Published: 2020-09-02 20:11:49 +0000 UTC; Views: 2246; Favourites: 39; Downloads: 23
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Description Physical Specifications:


  • Dimensions: 3 m diameter, 18 m height
  • Composition: carbon-fiber reinforced silicon carbide aeroshell, boron nitride aerogel insulation, stainless steel structure
  • Specific Impulse: 159 to 271 s (sea level), 188 to 322 s (vacuum)
  • Dry Mass: 10 tons (no payload)
  • Propellant Mass: 28 tons hydrogen peroxide, 4 tons kerosene
  • Payload to 4 km/s: 2.5 tons
  • Thrust/Weight: 2 (wet, full payload)
  • Powerplant: inline solar panel array, auxiliary hydrogen peroxide fuel cell


The Descendant is a city bus sized spacecraft derived from the space shuttle orbiter (though in many regards, it's more closely related to the Boeing X-37). Unlike either of those craft, it has significant propellant reserves allowing for substantial orbit changes, although this is still a fraction what is required to reach orbit from the ground so it must be carried up on another launch vehicle. When paired with the Defiant, it serves as a side-mounted launch escape system for passengers, seeing as the larger ship's bottom-mounted payload bay makes the typical arrangement impractical, and it can serve this role if needed during any part of the flight or return profile.

EDIT: I increased the mass to be more in-line with spaceplanes of comparable role, such as the Dream Chaser and HOPE-X. 
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Comments: 3

Lsimi [2024-06-14 01:02:47 +0000 UTC]

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

SFeather2022 [2021-12-27 15:02:47 +0000 UTC]

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Krcmar [2020-09-02 21:22:43 +0000 UTC]

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