Exploring fast package delivery from a systems perspective

Abstract

Fast Package Delivery refers to the transportation of freight over transoceanic distances in a period of hours, and provides opportunity for synergistic development with reusable launch vehicle and supersonic transportation technologies. However, a systems analysis of Fast Package Delivery has determined this market to be a difficult arena to enter. FPD has two modes of service. On one end is a mode for which the high transportation unit costs are offset by the single-customer serviceability and unreliability of market volume. At the opposite end, for scheduled service operation, high, stable market volumes exist, but are offset by components of the infrastructure which restrict benefits of faster flight times; such as times allocated to other elements of the delivery process. The use of air breathing propulsion systems is preferred for both modes of service, in order to achieve the range, reusability, and reliability required for market capture. While supersonic aircraft are best suited for scheduled service, hypersonic airbreathing systems are ideally most effective for on-demand service. However, the current status of hypersonic technology is not mature enough to be economically competitive. The proposed solution for a Fast Package Delivery scheduled service is a supersonic business jets. These vehicles are also, currently, the only valid means of servicing the on-demand market. However, market capture in the on-demand market is skeptical for supersonic jets because of their slower delivery time. The concepts proposed by Pioneer Rocketplane and Kelly Space and Technology could be contenders for the on-demand market if able to achieve performance parameters comparable to supersonic business jets. The focus of this paper is on the market characteristics, system requirements, and suitable vehicle configurations of a Fast Package Delivery System.