If you have watched a bicycle race, you should have noticed the drafting of the riders. Drafting is an aerodynamic technique where two moving objects are aligning in a close group to exploit the lead object's slipstream and thus reduce the overall effect of drag. This technique is exploited by the migrating birds as well as in the form of wake updraft. Airbus believes an aircraft can save 5-10% of fuel by flying in formation, 2.8–3.7 km behind the preceding one.
This technique can be used by the space rockets as well. The countries that only have small rockets with limited payload can launch several rockets in formation to increase payload. This technique can also be used on high energy space missions such as geostationary satellite launches, lunar and planetary missions. A single stage rocket with an aerodynamic nose cone can fly ahead of the main rocket to reduce its fuel consumption and increase its payload capacity. Wake updraft would only work for the first stage of a rocket while the rocket still travels through the thick air.
It would pave road to swarm of space rockets. Swarm satellites are already in use by NASA’s Starling mission, A Multi-CubeSat Mission to Demonstrate Autonomous Swarm Technologies.
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