Airlander 10 "Flying Bum" can launch a rocket by dropping it?

The Rocketry Forum

Help Support The Rocketry Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

gobrien

New Member
Joined
Aug 29, 2016
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Re this type of large blimp (airship) - https://uk.news.yahoo.com/worlds-longest-aircraft-airlander-10-leaves-114042130.html

Say you tied a (small) rocket to it, and say went up to the edge of the atmosphere (60 miles?) - then simply dropped the rocket (it would quickly reach about 600 mph?)

Then (firing up the engines on reaching Terminal Velocity) guide the rocket out to miss the ground, so that it then enters space on the way `down' (if you know what I mean)

i.e. you'd get a "free" 600 mph blast to get the rocket into space easier than if simply launched it from the ground.

That wouldn't work for some practical reason though - right?

(The curvature of the Earth from just 60 just miles up provides too acute an angle to guide it past the ground on the way down? Or is 600 mph no real use minus the escape velocity of a ground launch anyway?)
 
That's a rockoon, great videos out there.

Yes you are right - thanks - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockoon

I entered the term into You Tube, and even a Stanford student video is on there;

Stanford students launch high-altitude rocket from a balloon - [video=youtube;H-AcSucRBbw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-AcSucRBbw[/video]

So, nice to think that I came up with the same idea as some Stanford students!

Slightly different though in that my main idea was to guide the rocket out into space after dropping it down, and only send it up instead if that first idea is no use
 
Yes you are right - thanks .....

Slightly different though in that my main idea was to guide the rocket out into space after dropping it down, and only send it up instead if that first idea is no use

Not a good idea to make a rocket on the way to space go through any more atmosphere than you have to.
 
Back
Top