Our friend Oscar Viñals has sent us his latest space tourism project, SXT-A Iron Speed. Let’s hear what he says about this project.

Thanks to technical and technological progress, talk about Space Tourism, Suborbital trips or trip to the Moon, is not an impossible journey today. In the XXI century we think about futures achievements as, human missions on Mars, travel “regular” to the orbit of the Moon and Tourist trips to the frontier to space, available to ordinary people even with minimum income standard, it would be just like simple personal adventures.

The SXT-A Iron Speed (Space XL Transporter – Advanced) aircraft concept combines three types of propulsion engines in various stages to connect two different locations just like any commercial flight, but with the difference is that with the SXT-A Iron Speed, the passengers or “Space Tourists” could experience a supersonic cruise speed at Mach2, a maximum Hypersonic speed at Mach6 and stay for a few minutes at the border to space at 100km of altitude.

Designer : Oscar Viñals

The SXT-A Iron Speed would be equipped with two modern Low-bypass turbofan Jet engines with afterburning, Hybrid Rocket engine and an engine based on Scramjet System. It would have a mixture of composites and aluminum fuselage’s materials with thermal protections, with “hot/warm” metallic primary structure and hot metallic leading edges. There’s a parachute to slow the aircraft in the landing maneuver, an “eject able cone” to protect the rocket engine, nozzles with chevron shaped sections to reduce noise and redirect exhaust gases. Thermoelectric system which is capable of converting heat exhaust flow ejected by the jet engines into electricity for systems and sub-systems, also equipped with a system of air refueling in the front of the aircraft, three ejectable “emergency capsules” (2 on top and 1 under/right side). It would have the ability to transport 5 crew members and 15 passengers or “Space tourists”.

The 80% of the structure of the SXT-A “Iron Speed” consists of three types of propulsion systems and different tanks fuel, the remaining 20% (front section of the aircraft) would host the crew members and passengers and the two elevators or “Space Balconies” that would be deployed at 100km. of altitude, giving to the crew the sensation of “being out” of the aircraft, in space.

The Trip:
The SXT-A Iron Speed, take off from an international airport (New York, Paris, Sydney, Hong Kong…), on a track with “special” specifications, but like an any commercial Jetliner. In the first phase, would reach an altitude of 65,000 ft. at Mach 2 speed, in the second phase the “protector cone” of the rocket would be ejected and redirected by 2 mini boosters (water landing with an integrated parachute and then being recovered), in this stage the Rocket engine turns on until it reaches a height of 100km. In the third phase, while the aircraft descends, the rocket engine is turned on a few seconds to speed-up at Mach 4 speed and then Scramjet system starts up at an altitude of 120,000 ft. accelerating to Mach 6 speed and decelerating when the aircraft is near its destination to change at jet propulsion engine, and landing like any commercial Jetliner.

Tuvie has received “SXT-A Iron Speed” project from our ‘Submit A Design‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their design/concept for publication.