Structural Seal Development

Abstract

NASA currently has aggressive goals for the development of the next generations of Reusable Launch Vehicles (RLV). Many of the goals center around significantly reducing the time and cost of deployment (including payload) for these spacecraft, as well as substantially increasing the safety of the crew and hardware. A core component in the design of these next generation spacecraft is the propulsion system. Many concepts are currently being evaluated including Rocket Based Combined Cycle (RBCC) and Turbine Based Combined Cycle (TBCC) engine technologies, shown.