Slide 5 of 100
Notes:
NASA also awarded a ”Reusable Ten Ton Orbital Carrier Vehicle” contract worth $342,000 to North American Aviation. The final
concept from 1963 was quite similar to Lockheed's System III design. The launch capability was
11,340kg and the standard payload would have consisted of a small lenticular 12-man orbital
transfer vehicle spaceplane (left) for space station logistics and crew transfer. The
sled-launched booster rocketplane was 32.9 meters long and would have been powered by a single
F-1 + two H-1 kerosene/LOX engines plus turbojets for returning to base. The second stage was
mounted on top of the booster. It would have used three liquid oxygen/hydrogen J-2 engines from
the Saturn program. This fully reusable system would have had a gross liftoff weight of
548,847kg.
”Space Shuttle” --
Dennis R. Jenkins, 1981, ISBN: 0963397451
