Re: Where did this come from?
<Love those VTOL's. They look great in the short test flights but I wonder if there is an engine that will get them up there SSTO.
I am willing to bet there isn't. Something like 93% of an SSTO mass must be fuel. In itself that's doable, but if you also want it to be reusable, things like heat shields, parachutes, and (in VTOL case) fuel for landing will eat up remaining 7% and then more. Unless you build it out of nanotubes or such...
Now, this Japanese thing on top of a Kistler first stage might make a functional RLV.