Reusable Ten Ton Orb Credit - NASA

NASA 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 11,340 kg and the standard payload would have consisted of a small lenticular 12-man orbital transfer vehicle spaceplane 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 548,847 kg.

Manufacturer: North American. LEO Payload: 11,340 kg (25,000 lb). to: 185 km Orbit. at: 28.00 degrees. Associated Spacecraft: NAA RTTOCV. Total Mass: 548,847 kg (1,210,000 lb). Total Length: 32.90 m (107.90 ft).

• Jenkins, Dennis R,, Space Shuttle: The History of the National Space Transportation System : The First 100 Missions, Third edition, Voyageur Press, 2001. ISBN: 0963397451. Excellent - the most comprehensive account of the design, development, and flights of the space shuttle.Takes the reader from the maze of designs during the first shuttle competition to future plans. More at amazon.com...