/sci/ - Science & Math

>>14746701
what you're describing would still be an expensive piece of shit
smaller top mounted shuttle wouldn't have to deal with tile strikes and could have had a launch abort system
only loss in capability compared to a full sized orbiter is retrieving large satellites (meme capability, basically never used) and always having a crew present to look keep things running smoothly, neither of these were worth the trouble.
smaller orbiter means smaller price tag, this + delete the SSME and you can afford some of the fancier booster options that NASA had to ignore in favour of solids due to their lower dev cost, meaning this system would actually be more economical than expendable rockets