Lifting body

A lifting body is a <a href="/facts/Fixed-wing_aircraft/0DQQP2rB">fixed-wing aircraft</a> or <a href="/facts/Spacecraft/YQqQaUw0">spacecraft</a> configuration in which the body itself produces <a href="/facts/Lift_(force)/ehQKKaWP">lift</a>. In contrast to a <a href="/facts/Flying_wing/gsvl3pcq">flying wing</a>, which is a wing with minimal or no conventional <a href="/facts/Fuselage/vVXlHEE4">fuselage</a>, a lifting body can be thought of as a fuselage with little or no conventional <a href="/facts/Wing/6v6VAUT2">wing</a>. Whereas a flying wing seeks to maximize cruise efficiency at <a href="/facts/Subsonic_flight/Cn6Lnl3H">subsonic</a> speeds by eliminating non-lifting surfaces, lifting bodies generally minimize the drag and structure of a wing for subsonic, <a href="/facts/Supersonic/D3VpzmlC">supersonic</a> and <a href="/facts/Hypersonic/QUsQbhur">hypersonic</a> flight, or <a href="/facts/Spacecraft/YQqQaUw0">spacecraft</a> <a href="/facts/Re-entry/p7TMk9sa">re-entry</a>. All of these flight regimes pose challenges for proper flight safety.
Lifting bodies were a major area of research in the 1960s and 70s as a means to build a small and lightweight crewed spacecraft. The US built a number of lifting body rocket planes to test the concept, as well as several rocket-launched re-entry vehicles that were tested over the Pacific. Interest waned as the <a href="/facts/US_Air_Force/7MxWBYlc">US Air Force</a> lost interest in the crewed mission, and major development ended during the <a href="/facts/Space_Shuttle_design_process/9xCMKc0L">Space Shuttle design process</a> when it became clear that the highly shaped fuselages made it difficult to fit fuel tankage.
Advanced <a href="/facts/Spaceplane/oMJNJPy7">spaceplane</a> concepts in the 1990s and 2000s did use lifting-body designs. Examples include the <a href="/facts/HL-20_Personnel_Launch_System/T6sXydQm">HL-20 Personnel Launch System</a> (1990) and the <a href="/facts/Prometheus_(spacecraft)/sJuxj8X7">Prometheus spaceplane</a> (2010). The <a href="/facts/Dream_Chaser/vfXrKLh7">Dream Chaser</a> lifting-body spaceplane, an extension of HL-20 technology, was proposed as one of three vehicles to potentially carry <a href="/facts/US/P0sCdLe5">US</a> crew to and from the <a href="/facts/International_Space_Station/VNPUBz9m">International Space Station</a>, but eventually was selected as a resupply vehicle instead. In 2015 the <a href="/facts/ESA/L8YRNV0C">ESA</a> <a href="/facts/Intermediate_eXperimental_Vehicle/lwSnkgWb">Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle</a> performed the first ever successful reentry of a lifting body spacecraft.

Lifting body open-in-new

Lifting body