re: Shuttle Derived Vehicle Plans Are Many
When describing a Shuttle derived launch system they usually show some sort of cargo section on top of the ET in place of the Shuttle with the SSME power plant. It seems like a waste to use the Shuttle main engines, which are designed for reuse on a system that is to be launched and then discarded after use. Perhaps they should use other engines such as those developed for Delta 4 RS-68, & Atlas 5s RD-180. Of course this is all speculation and will have no relation to what, if any, system will be used. But we are free to speculate aren’t we.