A concept of drone launched short range rockets (DLSRR) is presented. A drone or an aircraft rises DLSRR to a release altitude of up to 20 km. At the release altitude, the drone or an aircraft is moving at a velocity of up to 700 m/s and a steep angle of up to 68° to the horizontal. After DLSRRs are released, their motors start firing. DLSRRs use slow burning motors to gain altitude and velocity. At the apogee of their flight, DLSRRs release projectiles which fly to the target and strike it at high impact velocity. The projectiles reach a target at ranges of up to 442 km and impact velocities up to 1.88 km/s. We show that a rocket launched at high altitude and high initial velocity does not need expensive thermal protection to survive ascent. Delivery of munitions to target by DLSRRs should be much less expensive than delivery by a conventional rocket. Even though delivery of munitions by bomber aircraft is even less expensive, a bomber needs to fly close to the target, while a DLSRR carrier releases the rockets from a distance of at least 200 km from the target. All parameters of DLSRRs, and their trajectories are calculated based on theoretical (mechanical and thermodynamical) analysis and on several MatLab programs.

Thermonuclear reactors hold a great promise for the future of Humankind. Within Tokamak and Stellarator reactors, plasma is confined by twisted magnetic fields. Reactors which produce fusion energy have existed since Princeton Large Torus Tokamak in 1978, nevertheless in all reactors built up to now, energy loss from plasma vastly exceeded fusion energy production. In order for a thermonuclear power plant to run, generated fusion energy must significantly exceed energy loss by the plasma. There are four processes by which plasma looses energy -neutron radiation, Bremsstrahlung radiation, synchrotron radiation, and heat conduction to the walls. For a deuterium -tritium reactor, 80% of energy produced by fusion is lost to neutron radiation, about 4% to 6% of fusion energy is lost to Bremsstrahlung and synchrotron radiation. For a deuterium -3 He reactor, 5% of energy produced by fusion is lost to neutron radiation, about 50% to 75% of fusion energy is lost to Bremsstrahlung and synchrotron radiation. Increasing reactor operating temperature decreases loss to Bremsstrahlung radiation and increases loss to synchrotron radiation. Power loss to conduction is either independent or weakly dependent on fusion power production. Up to now, no single theoretical or experimental model can accurately predict conduction power loss. For small Tokamaks and Stellarators, conduction power loss vastly exceeds power generated by fusion. For large and powerful thermonuclear reactors which are yet to be built, conduction power loss should be much lower then power produced by fusion. List of NotationsLatin Notations a -Tokamak or Stellarator minor radius A = R/a -Tokamak or Stellarator parameter where a is the minor radius and R is the major radius a i -molar abundances of nuclei in plasma B -the magnetic field B critical (T ) -temperature-dependent critical magnetic field for a superconductor B T -toroidal field at the plasma major radius in a vacuum shot

This paper is concerned with the idea of a significant improvement of state-of-the-art short-range rockets by means of using rocket artillery systems. Such a system consists of a rocket launcher aircraft (RLA) and a drone-launched short range rocket (DLSRR). An RLA is a reusable first stage of a military rocket. A DLSRR is the expendable second stage, which flies to the target. RLA-DLSRR systems have not yet been built, but they have been described in previous works by the author. State-of-the-art rocket systems are completely expendable and, hence, extremely expensive. No rocket artillery system with a reusable first stage has been built so far. Civilian spaceships with reusable first stages have been successful since 2015. In an electrically pumped rocket engine, the fuel and oxidizer are pumped into a combustion chamber by an electric-motor-driven pump. The electric motor is powered by a battery bank. Electrically pumped rocket engines would further decrease the cost of RLA-DLSRR systems. These engines are less expensive and more reliable then conventional rocket engines. In the present paper, it is shown that commercially available lithium polymer battery banks, as well as high specific power electric motors, provide sufficient power for the rocket engines needed for RLA-DLSRR systems. In the example given, it is calculated that an ERLA–DLSRR system with a liftoff mass of 15 tons can deliver a 210 kg payload to a range of up to 567 km with an impact velocity of up to 2415 m/s.

A novel concept of orbital launch system in which all stages are reusable is presented. The first two stages called Midpoint Delivery System (MPDS) deliver the next stages to a midpoint. A midpoint is defined by an altitude of 100 km to 120 km and horizontal velocity of 2.8 km/s to 3.2 km/s. MPDS stages decelerate in the atmosphere and perform vertical landing on barges. These stages can be reused daily for many years. The payload is delivered from the midpoint to a 400 km Low Earth Orbit by one or two stage rocket called Midpoint to Orbit Delivery System (MPTO). All of MPTO engines are delivered to LEO. These engines do not return to Earth themselves. They are returned to Earth in packs of 50 to 100 by a Reentry Vehicle. Overall, the fully and multiply reusable launch system

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