Mr. Pritchett is still reviewing my draft and gathering resources for me to use in my project.  While I wish I could get his feedback sooner rather than later, I am sure that his feedback, and those of his colleagues, will be very beneficial.  He did say that he was impressed with my work, so I hope that translates into no major problems I have to work around.

While he is reviewing my draft, I decided to post my draft on the Internet so I could get opinions from other space enthusiasts.  It is here where one of these enthusiasts told me that the RD-261 engines would not work.  They have more than enough thrust, but they cannot burn long enough to make it into orbit.  This is to be expected, as the RD-261 is a disposable, first stage rocket engine.

I have also discovered that Russian engineers have a nasty habit of developing engines that have multiple combustion chambers and engine nozzles.  The RD-261, for instance, has three.  As it turns out, the RD-701, the original engine used by MAKS, is two engine nozzles.  A single engine variant of the RD-701 is the RD-704.  Alas, this changes the mass specifications that I originally used.  These new developments require me to reevaluate the entire launch system, which I plan to do this weekend along with compiling better research documentation.