H.M.S. CYGNUS

HVL, ORBITTER
ND- S24

The H.M.S. Cygnus--United Kingdom registry--was seized by the Legion and modified to carry a highly specialized 20mm cannon, mounted to fire through the ship's central docking port. The very same systems that would allow the vehicle to rendezvous with, and dock with another spacecraft in orbit were used to track the target and sight the weapon. On the morning of January 1, 2042ad, the renamed Cygnus--now Tontine--reached orbit and attacked the Stellarclipper Tycho. History records this as the first act of manned warfare in space.
 

[LEFT] Inspired by the overall shape of the Douglas Hyperion of 1969, the Heavy Vertical Lander (HVL) class of shuttle is a single-stage to orbit (SSTO)--you don’t discard any part of the vehicle (except for burning propellant) in order to reach orbital velocity--vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) vehicle. [MIDDLE] The HVL’s landing struts (legs) are retracted and housed in the four ridges seen along the lowed half of the vehicle. A rendering of the vehicle landing w/struts extended was not available at this time. The engines operate through an opening in the vehicle's reentry heat-shield; during tail-in descent, the engines generate hot gas in order to deflect the superheated plasma created by atmospheric friction. Along with the engines and reaction control thrusters, directional control vanes (not shown in use) can be varied to create drag along the hull. [RIGHT] Scale comparison of the HVL flying along side a Leviathan freighter.
 

[LEFT] The HVL is capped by an aerodynamic faring for atmospheric flight; housed at the top of the faring is the collision avoidance and rendezvous radar array. In order to facilitate docking, a series of latches are opened to allow the faring to separate into two sections, which are in turn swung out to the side. [MIDDLE] On final approach, the pilot of the HVL cannot directly see the Tycho's docking port, and as such relies on a combination of short-range phased array radar and the visuals from the docking alignment camera mounted at the center of the vehicle's own docking port. (see: Tycho) [RIGHT] The HVL is now hard-docked with the Tycho, effectively making them one ship.
 

The single-stage-to-orbit vehicle is as old as the genre of science fiction itself. Portrayed as tail-sitting, gleaming-silver rocket ships, that soared to space and back again to land neatly back on their launching pad at the end of the mission. Those visionary writers of fiction may have had it right all along.
 

Long-envisioned as the next evolutionary step (even before the space shuttle), plans for such vehicles have been on the drawing boards of engineers for generations, and only recently made real with the launch of the late Delta Clipper DC-X prototype. Although the project--long with its rival, the Venture Star--were both abandoned, the vision remains.