User:Liquid91

OIAV: Orbit Insertion Assist Vehicle

The OIAV is a hypothetical aircraft that would carry a spacecraft into thin atmosphere before release.

Basic Concept

The aircraft would "piggyback" a spacecraft, similar to the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (however much more massive) that carries the Space Shuttle back and forth from Edwards Air Force Base to Kennedy Space Center, to a relatively high altitude, such as 30+ nautical miles. The OIAV would then release the spacecraft, along with an adequate fuel tank, and return to the ground while the spacecraft would then start its main engines. In the thin atmosphere the spacecraft would not need nearly as much fuel to propel itself to LEO (Low Earth Orbit) when compared to the enormous amounts of fuel (solid and liquid) needed to send the Space Shuttle into space.

Main Advantages

Since there is a lack of a SRB's (solid rocket boosters), the mission could be aborted at almost any point in the flight.