The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 09, 2003
Filed:
Jun. 24, 2002
Kenneth H. Barnes, Fort Worth, TX (US);
William M. Butler, Highlands Ranch, CO (US);
Paul E. Hagseth, Forth Worth, TX (US);
Lockheed Martin Corporation, Bethesda, MD (US);
Abstract
According to one embodiment of the invention, a rocket booster for launching a payload into space includes a fuselage adapted to support one or more fuel tanks inside the fuselage and a booster engine coupled to an aft portion of the fuselage. The booster engine is operable to provide thrust during an ascent phase of operation of the rocket booster. The rocket booster further includes a nacelle coupled to a forward portion of the fuselage and a flyback engine disposed within and coupled to the nacelle. The flyback engine is operable to provide thrust during a flyback phase of operation of the rocket booster. The rocket booster also includes one or more control surfaces coupled to the fuselage that are operable to control a flight pattern of the rocket booster during the flyback phase of operation. The flyback engine of the rocket booster is located forward of an aerodynamic center of the rocket booster.