Why not just build a “re-usable” larger shuttle with the same capacity planned for this rocket?
Re-entry & weight???
The shuttle was never all that re-useable. It was a major pork project by defense contractors. Not to say it wasn’t cool, pretty much established the United States as top dog in flight, we had a true hypersonic airframe.
The Saturn moon rocket engines are being analyzed for this new design.
http://www.space.com/19379-saturn-5-f1-engines-test-firing.html
The fuel pump was 55,000 brake horse power for one engine. There were 5 engines :)
It was and still is a very impressive feat of engineering.
I agree with others here though -— I doubt we will see SLS ever launch. NASA is too mired in politics now, and their mission is vague. I think we will see the most space development from the billionaire silicon valley executives who like to play at space exploration.
And SpaceX is doing pretty well with their rocket designs as well. They are learning rapidly in the field of ultra high performance rocketry.