>>14321252I'm a proud spaceplane appreciator. Part of the reason why I love spaceplanes is because they are cool (there's something uniquely beautiful about wings), and it's important to admit that, but I firmly believe that they have some real advantages too.
The primary advantage is safety. Propulsive landing relies on engines not only working, but starting without any delay. There's a lot of risk there. Parachutes work well for small capsules, but they (to my knowledge) don't really scale well. TSTO spaceplanes are the best choice in my opinion for frequent human flight. When spaceflight finally becomes routine, I think spaceplanes are inevitable.
When spaceplane arguments happen, the most frequent argument against them is that wings are a waste of mass in space. I disagree with this. Unless you did something really weird like a Phillip Bono style plug nozzle, or an inflatable heat shield, it's hard to avoid a side first reentry for a reusable second stage. This means you're probably going to need some aero surfaces anyways. Just look at how huge the flaps on starship are. Wings wouldn't really add much weight.
Also, consider that propulsive landing requires either dedicated landing engines, or an ISP cut from carrying sea level engines to orbit.
The final advantage that I'll point out is that the large surface of spaceplanes lowers reentry temps a lot. In the age of reuse, this could be a huge advantage.
