Funding for the US Air Force's Affordable Responsive Spacelift (ARES) programme has been cut from the fiscal year 2007 defence budget by the US Congress. ARES was to have developed a three-stage booster, with a flyback first stage, that could launch up to 18t into low-Earth orbit. The USAF only got as far as placing contracts with industry for vehicle studies.
ARES's goal was a vehicle able to launch within 24-48h notice, while reducing launch costs by one-third to one-sixth compared with existing expendable boosters. Early work examined the economics and expected flight rates of a reusable launch system.
"The study determined that we would fly a lot for maybe a two-month period, but most of the time the flight rate would be low. So the trade studies concluded that a reusable first stage and expendable [upper] stages was the best choice," says Air Force Research Laboratory vehicle directorate ARES chief technologist Jeffrey Zweber, speaking at the 2nd International Symposium for Personal Spaceflight in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
Source: Flight International
