Phoenix L Credit - Gary Hudson

SSTO orbital launch vehicle. Family:

The small Phoenix design of the 1980's was envisioned in two versions -- the Phoenix L (Light, cargo only) and Phoenix LP (Light-Prime, crewed). The earlier versions used liquid oxygen oxidiser and two fuels (hydrogen and propane) but later iterations used only oxygen and hydrogen (varying the oxidiser to fuel ratio during ascent). The designs used an 'aeroplug' in place of the 'aerospike' of earlier SSTO designs.

The original concepts for these vehicles were similar to the DC-Y concept of the 1990's. Nose entry was investigated, but rejected due to thermal and stability concerns.