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Surely this also applies to suborbital refueling between specialist tanker and orbiter. Moreover mating together dynamically, whether during a free-fall phase or a joint powered flight phase, hardly sounds cheaper or more efficient than mating together statically before takeoff.That implies aerial refueling, which is not what I would describe as "sub-orbital". I think we need a bit of clarification here as well.My old "piggyback" HOTOL (predating the An-22 Mriya project) refueled from the carrier aircraft to replace cryogenic boiloff and had the added advantage of reducing the wing area of the orbiter even more than near-empty tankage would, due to the assisted takeoff.
Surely this also applies to suborbital refueling between specialist tanker and orbiter. Moreover mating together dynamically, whether during a free-fall phase or a joint powered flight phase, hardly sounds cheaper or more efficient than mating together statically before takeoff.
That implies aerial refueling, which is not what I would describe as "sub-orbital". I think we need a bit of clarification here as well.
My old "piggyback" HOTOL (predating the An-22 Mriya project) refueled from the carrier aircraft to replace cryogenic boiloff and had the added advantage of reducing the wing area of the orbiter even more than near-empty tankage would, due to the assisted takeoff.
