Hyperion: The Fully Reusable SSTO!

Philip Bono's impressive single-stage-to-orbit design from the 1960s, the "Hyperion," captivated the aerospace industry with its innovative features. This remarkable vehicle, equipped with a plug-nozzle engine for ascent and re-entry heat shield, was capable of transporting 18,100 kg of payload or up to 110 passengers to orbit in just 45 minutes, or to any point on earth.

One unique aspect of the Hyperion was its launch method - a horizontal takeoff and vertical landing (HTVL) sled that provided a 300 m/s boost to the vehicle before it ascended to orbit. The sled was 3 km long with a straight course followed by a 1 km ascent up a mountainside, providing a 3 G acceleration.

This sled launch mode not only reduced the SSTO's dry mass, but it also made the Hyperion fully reusable, ideal for flights from inland sites, where fuel tanks wouldn't have to be dropped during flight. The Hyperion traveled at an astonishing 1100 km/h as it left the sled at the end of the 3 km launch rail.

However, the Hyperion's launch system required a 1.7 km high mountain, which made Douglas, the manufacturer, view the concept mainly as an experimental vehicle. Despite this, Douglas projected the cost to develop the Hyperion at $1.5 billion ($8 billion in 1999 economic conditions), with a cost per seat of $3000, or $15000-16000 in 1999.

In conclusion, Philip Bono's Hyperion design was a groundbreaking creation in the aerospace industry, showcasing the possibilities of a single-stage-to-orbit vehicle with unique takeoff and landing capabilities. Although it was viewed as experimental, the Hyperion remains a remarkable achievement in the history of space exploration.

[Vatsyayana]

Psh fully reusable, sled lives matter too...
Amazing video as always.

[skenzyme]

Stoke Space drew a lot of inspiration from this design.

[ardag]

I wonder how that sled is handled after it flies off the rails... Sled graveyard at the base of the mountain? Somebody picks it up? Gigantic heavy parachute? Sled catcher?

[silvanski]

A similar launch method as the Sänger Amerika Bomber project which was to be propelled down a 3 km (1.9 mile) long monorail track by a rocket-powered sled that developed a 600 ton thrust.

[Тонилед]

good retro futurism, reminded of the Soviet film "Planet of Storms" and a very old, still silent film, "Space Flight" in 1935, which was based on the theoretical developments of Tsiolkovsky (he, by the way, was a consultant for the film).

[thomasafb]

was surprised to see it land at the Cape....not too many mountains there for relaunching it ;-)

[davidstevenson]

I learned about the Hyperion concept in 1979 (also "Rhombus" and "Icarus"). I found the Aerospike SSTO concept very exciting and was disappointed that nothing came of it.
Now in 2023, the company Stoke Space is giving it a go, minus the sled launch design; I'm aged 60 and never thought this would happen.
The Second Space Race is very exciting.

[austinmorris]

Sled launching of a shuttle rocket was featured in several of Robert A. Heinlein's science fiction stories. In "The Man Who Sold the Moon", a giant sled track was to be built on the west slope of Pike's Peak, in Colorado, at the end of the novel, which would have resembled the Hyperion. This novel was published in the very early 1950s before there was a NASA.

[Sir_Uncle_Ned]

Purists would not call it an SSTO since the sled would be considered the first stage, but screw that, this is a very interesting way to go about saving fuel in the craft itself. Using a sled and a mountain to get an initial boost gets you past the first few seconds of flight where the rocket is fighting gravity at its heaviest, meaning you can get away with a slightly lower thrust/weight ratio when fully fuelled.

[mariodrechsler]

This is how rocket technics works: Take a big mountain and accelerate a rocket by magnetic rails (MAGLEV) and fire the engine after leaving the rail. Hazegrayart, as I´m also in the visualisation field I congratulate you to your very skillful and artistic work. Great!

[judet]

Bro it’s a giant mercury capsule, did they just go with a design they knew was stable and convert the shape into an SSTO?

[fractalelf]

Although it's unlikely, I like to imagine on an alternate Earth somewhere this thing actually was in use at one time.

[katenunyabizness]

I see that no one has solved the launch sled issue. Fireball XL5 didn't have a solution either, just let it fly off and crash. Very nice animation!

[Cruiserfrank]

Thank you for the Phil Bono concepts! They're making my old Gatland/Bono "Frontiers of Space" book come to life. Perhaps a Pegasus/Icarus someday? I'd love to see a Ranger company charging out of an Icarus.

[alecgriffiths]

Fireball XL-5 anyone? What an awesome animation too!

[ajds]

Beautiful - the supersonic exhaust crackle was special. The whole time I am thinking - that is a bad ass track to handle that kind of loading!

[mcnudde]

Very cool. That sled reminds me of the one in "When Worlds Collide."

[victorvandenbrink]

I like to imagine that this is the brainchild of some crazy rocket scientist that saw an Evel Knievel stunt somewhere and then came into office the next day like: "Ok, hear me out."

I mean even the colors of the rocket match.

[LukeRanieri]

Amazing video as always. Interesting how similar the vehicle Stoke Space is working on is.

[randycampbell]

As always an amazing video of an amazing concept. Unfortunately Bono missed an issue here in that the lateral G forces of the "upward turn" would have likely severely injured if not killed most of the passengers, which is an issue with such a launch scheme. Still a great visual!