This study investigates the application of Advanced Nozzles to Reusable Launch Vehicles (RLVs) through Mission Analysis, MDO and GNC Missionisation tools for autonomous re-entry vehicles. In this context, it is offered an assessment of Mission and Recovery Capabilities for an adapted version of RETALT1, an European VTVL-RLV concept (H2020 project) in the class of heavy-lift launch vehicles like SpaceX’s "Falcon 9" or European "Ariane 5". The original vehicle is modified for this study with an annular aerospike engine concept, that substitutes its conventional octa-web configuration. This study is based on the results obtained from the RETALT project, fully available in Open Access for the exploitation of its investigated technologies, including an experimental and numerical aerodynamic database. The collaboration between TU Dresden and Deimos Space results in design of a novel aerospike concept tailored to VTVL-RLVs in retro-propulsion scenarios and mission analysis for downrange-landing scenarios, respectively. In detail, the Missionisation tool developed by Deimos Space, together with CFD studies by TU Dresden for scaling the original AEDB for RETALT1 to its aerospike version, provide an assessment of the mission performance with respect to the design parameters and mission constraints previously defined for RETALT1. These results are delivered as Flying Quality Analysis, Entry Corridor Analysis and Trajectory Optimisation. All of the previous are then compared to the results of the original RETALT1 concept. This comparative offers a clear picture of the applicability of an annular aerospike engine to a class of reusable vehicles similar to "Falcon 9", together with impact on design parameters and mission constraints, performance gains and propellant consumption, trajectory optimisation and vertical-landing manoeuvre. This study lies within the ASCenSIon (Advancing Space Access Capabilities - Reusability and Multiple Satellite Injection) project, an Innovative Training Network (ITN) funded within H2020.