Development and Initial Testing of a Nanosat Launch

Garvey Spacecraft
Corporation
Development and Initial Testing of a
Nanosat Launch Vehicle
John Garvey
Garvey Spacecraft Corporation
Enterprise Chapter of the Los Angeles Section
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
El Segundo, CA
01 August 2006
Garvey Spacecraft
Corporation
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Agenda
Introduction
Background
Nanosat Launch Vehicle
Flight Testing
Next Steps
Conclusion
Garvey Spacecraft Corporation
Garvey Spacecraft
Corporation
• small aerospace company focusing on launch
vehicle technology development and flight testing
• located in Long Beach, CA
• fully operational since 2000
• partnered with California State University, Long
Beach (CSULB) since 2001
• variety of commercial and DOD customers
• accomplishments include:
– development of 13 test vehicles
– 17 flight tests
– first and only flight test of a composite LOX tank (teamed with
Microcosm)
– first flight tests (with CSULB) of a liquid-propellant aerospike engine
– demonstrations of RLV-type rapid turn-around operations
Strategies
Garvey Spacecraft
Corporation
• keep things small
• focus on near-term, incremental goals
• flight test often
– 3 to 4 times a year
– stay low as long as possible to minimize costs,
paperwork
– continually refine operations and processes
– stick with LOX / ethanol propulsion systems for now
• pursue non-traditional business
– as described in “The Innovator’s Dilemma” by Clayton
Christensen
• leverage teaming opportunities
Started with DC-XA
Garvey Spacecraft
Corporation
DC-XA LH2 Composite Propellant Tank
Garvey Spacecraft
Corporation
- first flight composite tank
for cryogenic propellants
- still many issues regarding
full-scale LOX composite tank
- McDonnell Douglas
management focused on X-33
- No interest in small-scale
flight-testing:
“Go do it yourself if you
think it is such a good idea”
Garvey Spacecraft
Corporation
Kimbo I
• LOX/ethanol
• integral aluminum
tanks
• 500 lbf pintle engine
• ablative liner
• ullage blow-down
• minimal
instrumentation
• width = 6 in. (max)
• length = 13 ft.
1998
Kimbo IV
Garvey Spacecraft
Corporation
LOX tank provided by
Microcosm, Inc.
Garvey Spacecraft
Corporation
Kimbo IV - First Flight of a
Composite LOX Tank
2000
CAlifornia Launch Vehicle Education INitiative
“CALVEIN”
Garvey Spacecraft
Corporation
• Started in 2001 with two primary objectives
– launch vehicle technology R&D
– provide hands-on hardware experience to aerospace
engineering students
• Industry / academic partnership
– Garvey Spacecraft Corporation
– California State University, Long Beach
– numerous other small companies also provide support
• Manifest academic payloads whenever
possible
Garvey Spacecraft
Corporation
CSULB - Jan. 2001
Work in Progress
Garvey Spacecraft
Corporation
Cost Reduction Strategy
Garvey Spacecraft
Corporation
Prospector -1, -2, and -3
Garvey Spacecraft
Corporation
Static Fire Test Configuration
Garvey Spacecraft
Corporation
Aerospike Engine Development
Garvey Spacecraft
Corporation
photo by Kim Garvey
photo by Tony Richards
First Flight Test of a Powered Liquid Propellant Aerospike Engine
- 20 Sept. 2003 -
Prospector 4
Follow-on Flight Test with Modified Aerospike Engine
Garvey Spacecraft
Corporation
photo by K. Caviezel
Garvey Spacecraft
Corporation
Early Observations
• Long-term design goal would be useful for
prioritizing research activities
• SLV efforts are not addressing the unique
issues and requirements of the very small
satellite community
– still too expensive
– not responsive enough
– technology flight tests frequently do not need,
or want, the support overhead associated with
operational missions
– short turn-around for next flight is important
What is the REAL Market for “Smallsats” *
* first need to agree on what is a smallsat
Garvey Spacecraft
Corporation
GEO Comsats
- very inelastic demand
-Proton, Ariane, Atlas III/IV, Sea Launch
- (Long March, Delta IV, Falcon V)
$75 mil
LEO smallsats
- Pegasus, Taurus, PSLV, Land Launch, Soyuz
- (Falcon 1, FALCON, Vega)
6 mil
Nanosats, CubeSats, etc.
- very elastic demand (?)
- Dnepr, Cosmos, Rockot
???
10
10,000
100
1,000
100
1000
10
- NOT TO SCALE -
1
units per year
mass [kg] per unit
Developed NLV Concept in Response to
Feedback from the Nanosat Community
Garvey Spacecraft
Corporation
-10 kg to polar 250 km orbit
- direct orbit insertion
- mobile launch
- two stages
- GLOW = 1540 kg (3394 lbm)
- LOX/propylene
- pressure-regulated helium for both
stages
- ablative first stage engine chamber
- low-erosion silicon carbide engine
chamber for the second stage
- max axial load: 7.3 g
- max dynamic pressure:
57 kPa (1200 psf)
Originally focused on payload
accommodations for single payloads;
Now putting more priority on multiple
payloads, i.e. – CubeSats, Picosats
dia - 65
dimensions in cm
Nanosat Launch Vehicle Requirements
Garvey Spacecraft
Corporation
Deliver 10 kg to polar 250 km orbit
Use direct orbit insertion trajectory
LOX/hydrocarbon
Pressure regulated helium propellant
feed systems for both stages – avoid
turbopumps
Single primary engine per stage
Same diameter for both stages
Use existing smallsat payload
adapters
Alternative Approach to Mission Integration
Garvey Spacecraft
Corporation
• Provide a Transportation Service
– NOT Selling Launch Vehicles
– hardware should be only a minor cost element
• probably not possible at existing launch ranges
because of flight termination requirements
– need (relatively) high launch rate
– launch licenses that cover multiple flights
• Considering three categories of service
– premium
– standard
– payloads-of-opportunity (“standby”)
Initial Mockup of Payload Accommodations
Based on 9” V-clamp
Garvey Spacecraft
Corporation
Finding more interest from CubeSat-class developers
NLV Mockup in Development
Garvey Spacecraft
Corporation
Prospector 5 Demonstrated Key Characteristics
for an NLV-class RLV Demonstrator
Garvey Spacecraft
Corporation
•LOX/ethanol propulsion
•full-scale first stage
•parachute recovery
Putting Students to Work
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Corporation
Garvey Spacecraft
Corporation
Prospector 6
Evaluating Full-Scale NLV Operations
Garvey Spacecraft
Corporation
First Fullscale,
Low-fidelity
Prototype
NLV in Flight
photo by
Joe Mullin
Example of the Use of Technologies –
Wi Fi Telemetry Experiment Data
Garvey Spacecraft
Corporation
500
450
400
Data drop-out transition
350
300
[psig]
Main Valve LO BW
Open
Discontinued
LOX - psig
250
ALC - psig
Bits1-8
200
Bits9-12
150
100
50
0
1
-50
6
11
16
21
26
31
36
41
46
51
56
61
66
71
76
81
86
91
96
Prototype RLV Vehicle for Demonstrations of
Fast-Turn Around Operations
Garvey Spacecraft
Corporation
Fairing
Interstage
692 centimeters
[272.5 inches]
65 centimeters
[26 inches]
First Stage
Thrust
Structure
Engine
GLOW
= 290 lbm
RLV Fast Turn-Around Flights –
Twice Within 3.5 Hours on 29 Oct 2006
P-7A Undergoing Final Launch Preparations
Garvey Spacecraft
Corporation
Koehn Dry Lake Bed, Mojave Desert
P-7A:
First Flight of
the Day
Parachute Deployment
Garvey Spacecraft
Corporation
P-7A Landing
Garvey Spacecraft
Corporation
Preparations Underway for Second Launch
Garvey Spacecraft
Corporation
P-7B:
Second
Flight of
the Day
P-7B Landing
DirecWay satellite
broadband station
P-7B After Landing
Garvey Spacecraft
Corporation
Cal Poly SLO P-POD CubeSat Deployer
Garvey Spacecraft
Corporation
Montana State University Data Logger
Garvey Spacecraft
Corporation
Responsive Launch
Garvey Spacecraft
Corporation
• initial prototype reusable NLV first stage
developed in six months
• two flights tests conducted within 3.5 hours
• only 18 hours of on-site preparations required
• vehicle subsequently flown a third time on an
operational, revenue-generating mission
• now being prepared for a fourth flight
P-7 Third Flight
Garvey Spacecraft
Corporation
29 April 2006
• customer-sponsored
operational flight
• manifested a launch
hardware tracker
experiment
• also served as a pathfinder
for responsive launch
operations at remote sites
Next Steps
Garvey Spacecraft
Corporation
• Transitioning to operations at launch sites
that enable high altitude flights
• Developing next generation vehicle
• Continue refining processes, cost data while
growing a solid, experienced team
• Keep building our backlog
– five flight tests under contract
– at least three more in negotiations
Conclusions
Garvey Spacecraft
Corporation
• our team is continuing to slowly move
forward
• staying small is the key to achieving and
maintaining low costs while still providing
responsive launch services
• the rocket hardware is only one part of the
overall solution
• the important question is whether such
launch services will ultimately be provided
domestically or offshore