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Introduction
Published in Mark W. McElroy, The Space Industry of the Future, 2023
To continue with Bainbridge’s analogy, space activity in the 1960s may have been a “technical mutation”; however, this mutation has caught on and proven itself a positive factor in the evolution of human civilization. Largely, what has allowed this mutation to begin to proliferate is the introduction of competition and reusability in the orbital launch industry. Launch providers that embrace reusable rocket designs, manufacturing innovations, and management efficiency can launch payloads at a cost that can be an order of magnitude less than legacy rockets. These innovations are now the backdrop of a newfound market where new launch companies and legacy launch companies are in fierce competition to create the most reliable and cost-effective rockets ever produced. This is a prime example of capitalism working to increase efficiency, open access to more people, and ultimately realize more value creation overall.
Future of Commercial Spaceports
Published in Janet K. Tinoco, Chunyan Yu, Diane Howard, Ruth E. Stilwell, An Introduction to the Spaceport Industry, 2020
Janet K. Tinoco, Chunyan Yu, Diane Howard, Ruth E. Stilwell
Commercial space transportation is becoming more affordable and accessible. Efforts to bring down space launch costs through the development of reusable and more efficient launch vehicles have already started to bear fruit, as evidenced by the successful landings and reuse of SpaceX rockets and those of Blue Origin, as well. Several nation-states are also looking toward reusability as their next game-changer. Furthermore, dedicated launch vehicles for the small satellite markets are emerging as a viable avenue for a wider range of customers at significantly lower costs, creating new opportunities for businesses, research, and education. Space tourism, once thought insurmountable, is closer to reality. The gateway to Mars via the Moon is planned and countries around the world recognize that a new space race is occurring. Inevitably, we expect to see a monumental expansion of commercial space launch activities in the coming decades, propelling the growth of commercial spaceports. With that backdrop, in this chapter we review economic projections and national efforts, identify planned developments of future spaceports, new technologies that will drive change, and then discuss our visions for the future of commercial spaceports.
Envisioning a sustainable future for space launches: a review of current research and policy
Published in Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 2023
Tyler F. M. Brown, Michele T. Bannister, Laura E. Revell
As the industry expands, logistical improvements and lowered financial barriers will allow for a higher frequency of launches worldwide. Twenty-first century reusable rockets dramatically reduce launch costs and have lowered launch frequency from quarterly in the Shuttle era to sub-weekly (Jones 2018). Space tourism initiatives from three commercial companies (Virgin Galactic, Blue Origin and SpaceX) also suggest an upwards trend in global launch totals (Ryan et al. 2022). Additionally, the theorised use of suborbital flights for international travel and shipping would also undoubtedly increase launch demands. Most dramatically, future plans for mega-constellation buildouts – satellite fleets on the order of tens of thousands of similar units – also require accelerated launch cadences to meet both orbital placement and replenishment demands (Cates et al. 2018). To satiate these needs, both the expansion of existing spaceports and the development of new launch sites continues internationally (Roberts 2019). These sites are almost entirely located in the Northern Hemisphere, across mid and tropical latitudes (Figure 2). And while this may not always be the case, currently most spaceports globally do not regulate launch frequency. As more nations and commercial entities enter into the space industry, logistical and supply chain constraints may be reduced; rapid-cadence launch is already a direct focus of several major launch providers.
Direct trajectory optimization framework for vertical takeoff and vertical landing reusable rockets: case study of two-stage rockets
Published in Engineering Optimization, 2019
Lin Ma, Kexin Wang, Zhijiang Shao, Zhengyu Song, Lorenz T. Biegler
Rockets are typically destroyed on their maiden voyage. Making rockets practically reusable to significantly reduce the cost of space exploration has gained worldwide attention. Private aerospace companies, such as SpaceX and Blue Origin, have made remarkable progress in the technology of reusable rockets. The vertical takeoff and vertical landing (VTVL) scheme has become a promising recovery technique. Rockets can make an upright landing and will be refuelled for another trip, which is setting the stage for a new era in spaceflight (Liu 2017). Reusable rockets have been conceived and discussed since the 1990s (Cook 1995; Gallaher, Coughlin, and Krupp 1996) and were practically demonstrated to be achievable in recent years. The trajectory design for the entire flight process is of great importance to recover rockets to ensure that the upper stage payload can be delivered to the desired orbit and the lower stage can land at a specified site. The entire flight process of reusable rockets generally includes several flight phases, and the upper and lower stages should be considered simultaneously to maximize flight performance.
Influence of Doped H2O or H2 on Soot Production and Power Capability in the Fuel-rich Gas Generator
Published in Combustion Science and Technology, 2022
Yujun Li, Taichang Zhang, Tao Yuan, Xuejun Fan
In recent years, reusable rocket is a hot spot and a trend of space development at home and abroad, which can greatly reduce the cost of space launch (Donahue et al. 2008). The rocket engine system is the core of the rocket, and the gas generator cycle is one of the main cycle modes of the rocket engine. At present, the most popular reusable Falcon 9 rocket uses the Merlin series engine which employs the rich-fuel gas generator (Vozoff and Couluris 2008). For the LOX/kerosene rocket engine with gas generator cycle, the high concentration of soot and the large area of coke deposition in the pipeline (Edwards 2006) have adverse effects on the rocket engine system and structure, thus reducing the performance and operation life of the rocket engine. It is not conducive to the reuse of the rocket. Therefore, it is necessary to study influential factors on the formation mechanism as well as the amount of soot and coke deposition during the combustion of aviation kerosene. The relevant studies have been performed. In soot formation mechanism, Hai Wang (Wang 2011) reviewed the research status of sooting processes in the past 20 years, including soot precursor formation, particle nucleation, and mass/size growth. Formation mechanism of coke deposition, including the chemical processes of coke deposition formation and the factors affecting deposition content has been extensively studied (Beaver et al. 2005; Heneghan and Zabarnick 1994; Spadaccini, Sobel, Huang 2001). In the gas generator carbon deposition, the effects of mixture ratios and combustion pressure on soot formation and deposition characteristics were studied in a fuel-rich LOX/kerosene gas generator and a GOX/kerosene gas generator (Feng et al. 2017; Lausten, Rousar, Buccella 1985; Lawver 1983). The carbon deposition and soot formation characteristics of RP-3 kerosene under certain conditions were studied (Abdalla et al. 2020; Pei and Hou 2016), which indicates different types of kerosene also affect carbon deposition and the formation of soot. In addition, the development of numerical calculation also enables researchers to further study the characteristics of coke and soot (Foelsche et al. 1994; Yu and Lee 2007). For some hydrocarbon fuels, such as gasoline, the effects of the addition of alcohol and ether on the soot formation and combustion properties of the fuel were studied (Liu et al. 2018; Zhu et al. 2020), but as far as we know the additional components were rarely involved to suppress sooting in aviation kerosene and oxygen combustion. Moreover, influence of the additive on the power capability of combustion products of the gas generator were rarely studied.