This technology is not new. The principles were worked out in a project of the British Aircraft Corporation over 40 years ago. That project was called "MUSTARD". Even for the mid-1960s, just a few years after the launch of Sputnik-1, no new technology was required, but the then UK government saw no need for such a launcher and would not support it. There was no such thing as private finance for space projects in those days.
Things have changed. Now there are stronger, lighter materials, more efficient rocket engines, and most importantly, no need for human pilots as there was then. Autonomously-piloted flying machines are commonplace.
The EARL-OLS differs from MUSTARD by mounting third-party payloads on the nose, as shown here. It could launch the SpaceX Dragon, The Boeing CST-100, the Orion, and other payloads of similar mass, including winged space-plane vehicles, like X37-B and Dreamchaser . In this way, unlike the Space Shuttle, the ability for a crewed mission to escape at any point during the ascent is assured. Safety first!
On this website, further details of EARL-OLS will be revealed as the project progresses, but, for now, you can read about a small-scale demonstrator that we have in mind, which will show that the system will work (click "EARL-Demo" above).
Here is an opportunity for a consortium of private investors to dominate space transport in the 21st Century, not to mention the making of a lot of money. The Spacefleet project is supported by a team of experts and preliminary research has begun at the University of Hertfordshire. If you are interested, please contact us by clicking the News/Info button, above.