“Using technologies we’ve developed over the past 10-15 years, we can do this cheaper than the Russians do it today,” says Steve Cook, director of corporate development for Dynetics and a former manager of the Ares Projects Office, the last major NASA initiative to develop new rocket engine technology.
This work reports a thesis research done in the field of air launch at TU Delft’s faculty of Aerospace Engineering. During the entire era of space flight air launch is seen as a very promising concept. Despite its claimed advantages, air launch is up till now only a marginal success with the Pegasus launch vehicle from Orbital Sciences. In this study is investigated for which conditions expendable air launched vehicles can achieve a performance gain compared with expendable ground launched vehicles. The scope of this study is limited to near-term feasible concepts. Therefore, only existing carrier aircraft that require minimum modifications are evaluated. Solid propelled rockets are more promising for air launch than liquid rockets, therefore, only solid propelled rockets are considered during this study. Potential markets for launch vehicles with a 10 kg and 2,000 kg payload capability to low earth orbit are identified. The influences of different launch parameters and the presence of a wing on the potential performance gain of air launch are investigated.
A Multidisciplinary Design Optimization (MDO) is deemed the most suitable approach for the comparison between air launch and ground launch. In earlier thesis work performed at the TU Delft an MDO tool in the Tudat framework is developed by Jan Vandamme. This tool is used as a starting point for this work but is heavily modified and expanded. For the typical disciplines of launch vehicle design models are developed and validated. The Multidisciplinary Design Analysis (MDA) and MDO validation tested the ability of the tool to model the design and the trajectory of launch vehicles. During the MDA validation it is shown that the tool is capable to do this for the design as well as for the trajectory. From the MDO validation it can be concluded that the optimized designs have realistic configurations and a lower cost per flight than the designs for the MDA validation.
The work presented here addresses the use of multidisciplinary optimization methods to the design of solid rocket propelled launch vehicles, thereby taking into account both air- and ground-launch as well as the addition of lifting devices (use of wings). The method combines both vehicle and trajectory design in a a sequential approach
Born from Armadillo Aerospace a group of the core team members are back at it with an improved vehicle ready to reach for space again.
EXOS Aerospace Systems & Technologies, Inc. would like you to join with them and the former core employees of Armadillo Aerospace to embark on a renewed adventure- building commercial sub-orbital rockets that will carry pretty much anything you can think of (that fits into the current or optional “expanded” cargo bay) to space and back in just a few minutes.
NASA’s latest innovation with 3D printing comes with their recent breakthrough; 3D printing full-scaled copper rocket engine parts. In trying to save both time and money, the organization has begun using selective laser melting 3D printers to create a combustion chamber liner that is able to function at extremely high and low temperatures.
Rocket Lab's idea for making a lighter, simpler liquid rocket is its Rutherford engine. Named after New Zealand-born physicist Ernest Rutherford, it's an electric turbopump engine that burns a mixture of liquid oxygen and RP-1 rocket fuel, which is a highly refined type of kerosene. Unlike conventional engines, in the Rutherford, the gas-powered turbine to run the pump is replaced with a brushless DC motor and lithium polymer batteries, and provides enough fuel for the Rutherford to generate 4,600 lbf (20,462 N) of thrust and a specific impulse of 327 seconds.
[Note: This report seems to indicate increased interest and a finding to put more effort into development of small launch vehicles at NASA.]
In FY14, NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) Game Changing Development (GCD) Program investigated two technology areas in the ALTIA activity. The first would enable new markets in dedicated nanolaunchers; that is, launchers whose payload is very small and devoted solely to delivering CubeSat-sized payloads that would otherwise be restricted to secondary accommodation on missions that use a much larger class of launch vehicle (the state of the art).
Finding #2 – Pursue focused nanolauncher technologies and design approaches, such as integrated avionics and a three-stage nanolauncher. These two examples enable simpler infrastructures, shorter production times, and greater flight rate capability. Of the technologies the team had time to pursue, advanced avionics can reduce recurring cost by ~20%, as well as improve launch rates. However, advances in avionics that do not reduce the number of procured and installed avionics components do not realize significant cost and productivity benefits. A wider technology portfolio would be more effective in improving life cycle characteristics. A three-stage NL001 configuration (perhaps one with solids on the lower stages topped with a very small liquid upper stage) should achieve similar reductions,
