"Tom Kalvelage" wrote in message
om...
I've thought about what a reasonable, achievable, less expensive
earth-to-orbit launch vehicle would look like.

I keep coming back to a two-stage-to-orbit vehicle that reuses both
stages. The first stage is a LOX/RP1 powered 'big cheap booster' -
not necessarily pressure fed - that flies straight up, releases the
second stage, and flies straight down to land at the launch site. The
second stage is a LOX/LH2 powered near-SSTO, shaped like an elongated
Soyuz reentry capsule, with a conventional heatshield on the bottom
and a expendable payload fairing on top. After deploying the payload,
the second stage also reenters and lands vertically at the launch
site.

First of all ... a big reuseable booster, typically does not mean cheap
though if it can fly enough flights and each individual flight does not
cost too much it can be economical.

Secondly, you should go to http://www.kistleraerospace.com/ where you will
find something remarkably similar to your proposal with some differences.