Responsive Space Launch with the Mark 41 Vertical Launching System

For decades the space domain has been used for military purposes. When enemy forces establish counter-space capabilities, this could become a weakness. Responsive Space is a concept that focuses on replenishing lost capabilities and/or granting additional capabilities from space assets quickly. The continuous miniaturization of technologies has...

Multidisciplinary Design Optimization in the Conceptual Design Phase: Creating a Conceptual Design of the Blended Wing-Body with the BLISS Optimization Strategy

Traditionally, the aircraft design process is divided into three phases: conceptual, preliminary and detailed design. In each subsequent phase, the fidelity of the analysis tools increases and more and more details of the design geometry are frozen. In each phase a number of design variants is generated, fully analyzing them with the tools...

Conceptual Design of Blended Wing Body Airliners Within a Semi-automated Design Framework

Blended wing body aircraft represent a paradigm shift in jet transport aircraft design. Stepping away from the conventional tube-and-wing philosophy, they promise benefits over existing or future conventional aircraft. The most significant challenge with the concept is the increased coupling between aircraft design disciplines that has...