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--- traveller:spacecraft:tl9:condor [2019/10/20 09:55] – created sam
+++ traveller:spacecraft:tl9:condor [2020/02/01 23:09] (current) – sam
@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 ====== Condor Lifter (50dt) ======
+{{ :traveller:spacecraft:tl9:condor.png?200|}}
+SSTO are an idea that sounds great in theory, but in practice don't really work. The TL 9 //Condor// is not an exception to this, and though it can get from ground to orbit and back without staging or refuelling, it does so with very limited capacity for either cargo or passengers.
-A simple cheap transport to get cargo from surface to orbit. It is a streamlined box with limited aerodynamic capability. It is 22m long, 15m wide and 4m tall.
+It is basically a hypersonic delta-wing about 23m long, 37m wide and 4m tall, powered by four aerospike engines which power it from a horizontal take-off all the way up into low orbit. It mostly relies on aerobreaking and gliding to get back down.
-The //Condor Lifter// is simple transport designed to lift cargo from a planet's surface to low orbit. It is an old TL 9 design, and has been superseded by newer transports on most worlds. It is still sometimes seen in the outer colonies however, where the availability of better craft is limited.
+For //Black Sky Industries//, the //Condor// was an experimental design that proved that it could be done, even though it wasn't really cost efficient to do so.
-The Condor is the most well known example of transport vessels from this era, and pushes the bounds of the technology available at this time. Most other vessels were of similar size and capability.
+It can manage about 8km/s, with a take-off acceleration of about 9m/s². It relies on its lifting body to get the extra few km/s needed to reach orbit.