Thingiverse
Mk. 15 Starspike by itb7
by Thingiverse
Last crawled date: 4 years, 3 months ago
To aid in its planned conquest of Syracusan worlds, the Dominion would of course need to land its troops, as quickly and efficiently as possible. The result was the Mark 15 Starspike, a truly unique aircraft in that it was never designed to land. The ship would be launched with disposable booster rockets on the proper trajectory towards a planet. When it encountered the atmosphere, the massive saucer on its front end would act as a combination of airfoil and ablative panel, allowing the craft to cruise at extremely high altitudes towards its destination. The four massive jet engines mounted on the rear of the craft kept its speed up. The result was a craft that flew only partly on aerodynamic wings, and partly by skipping of the surface tension of the upper atmosphere.
When over the landing zone, the saucer would detach from the rest of the body, falling to the planet's surface and allowing Dominion troops to disembark. The rest of the craft, freed from its load, would return to a low orbit, where it could be picked up and returned to its mothership. The advantage of this system over conventional reentry vehicles was the much higher speeds and maneuverability it could maintain over its run, as well as its higher level of reusability.
When over the landing zone, the saucer would detach from the rest of the body, falling to the planet's surface and allowing Dominion troops to disembark. The rest of the craft, freed from its load, would return to a low orbit, where it could be picked up and returned to its mothership. The advantage of this system over conventional reentry vehicles was the much higher speeds and maneuverability it could maintain over its run, as well as its higher level of reusability.