About as slick as it gets, the fellow in the lab coat can be quite proud of his work...

One problem with nose mounting lifting bodies has been with asymetrical forces generated during launch. My assumption is that this design was model tested in a hyper-velocity wind tunnel and those problems worked through before this mock up was built.

Mass is antoher problem. The insertion engines can also work as an abort system - but I wonder what launch vehicle is intended?

If it works, my guess is China would probably buy the design for hard cash a few years out - say maybe 5 years or so, when their new launch vehicle is coming on line. I don't know about ESA or NASDA.

ep