Message posted by C. Reed on May 20, 2010 at 12:18:42 PST:
An interesting 1990s patent for a TSTO launch system, not the Boeing "Darkstar" patent - showing a winged lower stage with four F101s and a pair of RL-10s, mated to a recoverable orbital stage powered by a single SSME. The launch profile has it launching from Florida, but the recovery zone for the upper stage is defined by a circle encompassing Vandenberg, Edwards, White Sands, and a certain "operating location"!
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