The EARL Project 

Experimental Autonomous Rocket-propelled Lifting body

This project is an attempt to demonstrate, at the lowest achievable cost, the principle whereby a trio of near identical rocket-propelled vehicles is launched, in a sandwich configuration, whereby the outer two vehicles of the sandwich boost the inner vehicle until they run out of fuel, at which time all three vehicles separate, the inner vehicle lights its engines and continues on upwards, and the two booster vehicles return to a runway landing.

 A suitably sized trio of vehicles could enable the inner, boosted vehicle to attain Earth orbit. This is similar to the long-defunct MUSTARD project, due to the British Aircraft Corporation, started in 1964 and cancelled in 1965, when it became clear that UK government funding would not be given. The project was to build a completely reusable orbital launch system, capable of carrying 5 tonnes to low earth orbit, using a system consisting of three near-identical rocket-powered lifting bodies, launched together, as a stack (somewhat similar to the Space Shuttle). All craft were to be piloted, with the outer two members of the stack lifting the centre member into the high atmosphere before returning to a runway landing. The centre member would continue on to orbit, and later return to a runway landing, having discharged its payload. The illustration on the right is of the original MUSTARD concept.

Now, materials technology has advanced, and it is no longer necessary to provide pilots for the vehicles, resulting in a massive reduction in weight and safety requirements.

So, what we intend to do is to build three small demonstrator craft, similar in shape to the MUSTARD, but with hulls only 2.5m long. We will demonstrate the boosting of the innermost vehicle and the recovery of all three vehicles by runway landing at the end of the mission. All three vehicles will contain autonomous guidance systems. The maximum height achieved by this system will probably not be much greater than 10km, but it will be a sufficient demonstration of the technical ability of the Spacefleet company and its consortium collaborators. Thereafter, it should become easier to attract funding from the European Space Agency, the UK Space Agency or the EU Framework Programme for much bigger demonstrations that could reach sub-orbital space and, later on, Earth orbit.

EARL Triple take-off illustration

The total cost of the project to launch the three-craft sandwich is expected to be some tens of thousands of euros, between €70,000 and €100,000. We hope to raise most of that by public subscription, the details of which are still being being worked out. However, if you are interested in the project already, please contact us for more details and discussion.

Click  EARL 2  for more information on the EARL