– could the space shuttle just fly into space like a plane, rather than being propelled vertically by rockets?

Question

– could the space shuttle just fly into space like a plane, rather than being propelled vertically by rockets?

In: 48

Answer 1

Not really. Orbit is at around 100km high and roughly 17,000mph. Standard jet planes the size of the shuttle would only get you 1/4 of the height and the 1/10th the velocity. And until you add rockets into the equation, a jet engine plane will very much fall short of orbit; they just aren’t capable of hitting the speeds necessary. They need atmosphere to work…but atmosphere means drag.

So instead of having a bi-modal craft, it’s easier to have just one mode of propulsion.