The NEXUS reusable rocket was a concept design created in the 1960s by a group at General Dynamics led by

Krafft Arnold Ehricke Krafft Arnold Ehricke (March 24, 1917 – December 11, 1984) was a German rocket-propulsion engineer and advocate for space colonization. Biography Born in Berlin, Ehricke believed in the feasibility of space travel from a very young age, ...

. It was intended as the next leap beyond the

Saturn V Saturn V is a retired American super heavy-lift launch vehicle developed by NASA under the Apollo program for human exploration of the Moon. The rocket was human-rated, with three stages, and powered with liquid fuel. It was flown from 196 ...

, carrying up to eight times more payload. Several versions were designed, including 12,000 and 24,000 short ton vehicles with payloads of one thousand and two thousand short tons respectively. The larger version had a diameter of 202 feet (61.5 metres). It was never built. It was a single-stage-to-orbit vehicle that would be fully recoverable upon landing in the ocean. It would use parachutes to slow descent, with retrorockets (on top) for a final soft touchdown. General Dynamics Nexus - Astronautix
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Notes

External links

refs "Astronautics, January 1963, pp. 50-56." re Nexus

Space launch vehicles of the United States Hypothetical spacecraft Cancelled space launch vehicles

Nexus NEXUS is a joint Canada Border Services Agency and U.S. Customs and Border Protection-operated Trusted Traveler and expedited border control program designed for pre-approved, low-risk travelers. Members of the program can avoid waits at border ...

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