Patent ID: 8884202

Claim:
An upper stage launch vehicle comprising: a pair of main vehicle tanks for storage of liquid propellants therein including a hydrogen tank and an oxygen tank; at least one main upper stage rocket for propelling the launch vehicle in space; a payload associated with said launch vehicle; an internal combustion engine powered by waste ullage hydrogen and oxygen vented from said tanks; a power generator communicating with an output shaft of said internal combustion engine for generating electrical current; a battery in electrical communication with said generator for storing the electrical power; a gaseous oxygen accumulator for storing oxygen from the oxygen tank; a gaseous hydrogen accumulator for storing hydrogen from the hydrogen tank; and a thruster group for providing attitude and settling control of the vehicle, said thruster group including at least one attitude thruster and at least one settling thruster, said settling thruster being selectively powered in a first mode by exhaust gas from the internal combustion engine and in a second mode by oxygen and hydrogen gas from said accumulators, and the attitude thruster being powered by oxygen and hydrogen gas from said accumulators.