The Multi-Unit Space Transport And Recovery Device or MUSTARD, usually written as Mustard, was a reusable launch system concept that was explored by the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) during the mid-1960s.
Mustard was intended to operate as a multistage rocket, the individual stages comprising near-identical spaceplane modules. These planes, or stages, were hypersonic vehicles, capable of flying at speeds in excess of five times the speed of sound. Throughout the 1960s, the Mustard project was refined and prepared for programme launch. However, financing for the initiative was not forthcoming from the British government and the concept ultimately languished following the completion of the last major design study in early 1967. According to BAC's successor company BAE Systems, the projected cost of completing Mustard's development had been estimated as being between 20 and 30 times cheaper than the conventional expendable launch system used for the American Apollo program. The knowledge and expertise from Mustard was applied in various other avenues, the most prominent being the HOTOL spaceplane programme during the 1980s.
History
Origins
During the 1940s and 1950s, the United Kingdom had undertaken numerous independent space-related ventures, such as the Black Knight ballistic missile programme and the abortive Black Arrow satellite launcher. While the ambitions of these programmes had been tempered both by cost and a political desire to collaborate with other Commonwealth and Western nations, such as the Europa launcher, Britain retained a considerable interest in the pursuit of various space-related technologies. that was initially investigating supersonic and hypersonic flight problems, became interested in the application of such a vehicle for space-related activities.
Design
Modules
Mustard was a modular reusable space launch system, comprising multiple copies of a single vehicle design, each of which was configured for a different role as a booster stage or an orbital spaceplane. The core vehicle design resembled the basic layout of the Douglas Astro, both being delta-winged reusable vehicles, as would the later American Space Shuttle. Furthermore, all three functioned as vertically launched rockets and used integral wings so that they could land horizontally, akin to an aeroplane.
The design evolved through a total of fifteen proposed variants or schemes, each typically comprising a deep-keeled lifting-body airframe with delta wings in a smooth blended wing body layout, with twin tail fins rising from the wing tips and canted outwards. Some early variants featured a compound-delta wing, complete with inboard tail fins. Power was provided by an arrangement of between one and four rocket engines positioned upon the rear fuselage.