Why are space rockets shot straight up? Wouldn’t it be easier to make a spacecraft that ascends like regular aircraft until it’s out of the atmosphere?
In: Technology
To get something into orbit in space, you need to get it up high, past the atmosphere, and then get it going sideways really fast. We use rockets to go up, and then once they are high and the atmosphere is really thin, they turn sideways and then rocket gets up to a really fast speed. Theoretically, we could do as you describe, and get the spacecraft as high as we can flying like an airplane, then go the rest of the way like a rocket, then go fast with the rocket. Or similarly, we could have a plane carry the rocket as high as the plane can go, then release the rocket to do it’s thing. However, the big issue is that even if the rocket gets to skip that first step of getting somewhat high up, the rocket still needs to be big and carry a lot of fuel so it can get the rest of the way up and then do the go-fast step. If you want a rocket big enough to carry people, then the rocket would be too big for even the largest plane ever built to carry it. Additionally, when a plane is carrying a big rocket, it can’t fly as high due to all the extra weight, so really, the height gained wouldn’t be that big.
So, while there is research and tests being done on ideas like yours, they aren’t feasible yet.
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