Time to Think ‘Horizontal’ for Future Space Launches

In article 3c9df80b-8312-426f-b362-
, says...

My system uses an inflatable thermal protection system to slow below
sonic speeds and fold away wings when gliding below the speed of
sound. A tow plane flying down-range snags the booster as it is
gliding down-range with a tow line and tows it back to the launch
center. There the booster is released. The engine re-starts at a low
thrust setting, as the booster climbs into vertical position. It then
settles down tail first, like the old tail sitters from the 1950s - on
a mobile landing platform. The wings and thermal systems retract and
the booster is readied for another launch.

This thing just keeps sounding more and more Rube Goldberg every time
you post something like this. So, it's got wings, but can't fly under
it's own power back to the launch site, so it's towed by a plane back to
the launch site where it transitions from gliding flight to powered
vertical flight where it must then perform a precision vertical landing
on a mobile landing platform.

That vertical landing on a mobile landing platform by those tail sitters
was abandoned in the 1950's for a reason. The transition from
horizontal to vertical flight was tricky, and the actual "landing" onto
those platforms was even trickier.

Jeff
--
The only decision you'll have to make is
Who goes in after the snake in the morning?