Launch vehicle with interstage propellant manifolding

摘要

An improved launch vehicle having a central vehicle stack with an upper stage, a lower stage and payload, and having one or more additional parallel burning stages burning in parallel with the lower stage. Interstage propellant transfer is provided from the shorter to longer burning parallel stages. The additional parallel stages are preferably of substantially the same, or greater, length as the central lower stage. The central lower stage and parallel additional stages may preferably have substantially the same thrust capabilities at liftoff and sufficient thrust to provide redundancy and hence increased reliability, in the event of loss of one of the parallel stages.