USAF Wants Reusable Rockets That Could Fly Back.

USAF Wants Reusable Rockets That Could Fly Back.

Discovery News (5/18, Klotz) reported, "The US Air Force has a vision of the future that includes rockets that are not only reusable, but also able to fly back to Earth and land autonomously on a runway" in order to cut down costs of retrieving them. "The Air Force Research Laboratory is rolling out a $33-million pathfinder program to develop a prototype booster that can glide or fly itself back to the launch site. The first step of the program likely would be aimed at demonstrating a turn-around maneuver known as 'rocket-back,' whereby a rocket would use its own engines to fly back to the launch site." This could occur in 2013. Lockheed Martin and a team from California Polytechnic State University have previously tested a "sub-scale fly-back booster." If successful, a "fly-back booster could cut launch costs by 50 percent."