1, The Low Heat Combustion of H2 (in air) is 120 Megajoules per Kilogram.
2, The energy required to get to 18,000 mph (8.0 Km/sec, Mach 24.6 ) earth orbit is 32 Megajoules/kilogram.
3, The B-70 Valkyrie bomber (120,000 Kg) had sustained flight at (Mach 3, 1.0 Km/sec) in the 1960s with 6 air-breathing Turbojet engines @ 70,000 - 100,000 ft altitude.
Proposed:
Runway to 100,000 ft (Mach 4, 1.3 Km/sec) using air-breathing 20,000 Kg (20 Tonne)
0 to Mach 4 "Launch Truck" Jet Fuel Powered for 2 hour flight, max, with 100,000 Kg (100 Tonne Cargo) *the Space Shuttle weight is 118 Tonnes*.
The Cargo load is comprised of' a Mach 4 (1.3 Km/sec) to Mach 12 (4 Km/sec) Scramjet with LH2 fuel (4,000 to 8,000 Kg , 4 to 8 tonnes required),
And: LH2- LOX fueled Low Earth Orbit Insertion Rocket and Payload minus the Scramjet and 4 - 8 tonnes of used H2.
This should be better/cheaper than the existing 4,300,000 lb ~ 2,000 Tonne Shuttle
Launch Setup with it's two 500 Tonne each Solid Fuel Boosters & the LH2 -LOX External Fuel Tank with all of it's problems.
Note that the heat of combustion of Hydrogen (H2) is nearly twice the energy required for
11 Km/sec earth escape velocity and almost 4 times the energy required for low earth orbit
which suggests that hydrogen fuel can be used for Powered Re-Entry Braking using
O2 from the upper stratosphere.
It seems that the 1960s world political climate and race to get a man on the moon
"by the end of the decade" took priority over practical space flight.
Frederick
