Sven Stappert

SpaceLiner Cabin Escape System Design and Simulation of Emergency Separation from its Winged Stage

The SpaceLiner is a visionary concept of a hypersonic passenger transportation system with two parallel winged stages based on rocket propulsion. This fully reusable system has been studied by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) for over a decade and has entered its project phase A in 2017. Since it is supposed to transport up to 50 passengers on suborbital trajectories, high standards for safety and reliability have to be applied to this system. Hence, an emergency capsule (SpaceLiner Capsule) accommodating the passengers is foreseen that shall safely eject from the SpaceLiner passenger stage in case of a critical emergency. This paper focuses on the separation process and investigates the baseline capsule ejection procedure such as the cabin and separation motor design. Furthermore, the status and recent developments of the SpaceLiner are presented.

Evaluation of European Reusable VTVL Booster Stages

Reusability of launch systems has the potential to strongly impact the launch service market if sufficient reliability and low refurbishment costs can be achieved. This study focuses on the vertical takeoff and vertical landing (VTVL) method as currently used by SpaceX. The goal of this study is to determine the impact of this method on a technical, operational and economic level and to identify its potential for a future European reusable launch system. Therefore, different propellant combinations, stagings and engine cycles were considered for a launch system with a reusable VTVL booster stage and a payload capability of 7 tons to GTO (geostationary transfer orbit). Several concepts were subjected to a preliminary design phase and are presented in this paper. The most promising concept will be selected to enter a second, more detailed design phase to obtain a feasible reusable VTVL launcher with the potential to become a future European launch vehicle.