CommercialReusableLaunchVehicle(CRLV)Technology

RoadmapStudy

SponsoredbytheNASAInnovativePartnershipProgram(IPP),andtheAirForceResearchLaboratory(AFRL)

April8,2010

Studyleads:

DanielJ.Rasky,PhD

SeniorScientist,SpaceTechnologyDivision

NASAAmesResearchCenter

W.JesseGlance,Jr.,LtCol

USAFR

AirForceResearchLaboratory

Daniel.J.Rasky@nasa.gov:650‐604‐1098Walter.Glance@wpafb.af.mil:301‐213‐6618

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Sonja Alexander Headquarters, Washington O c t . 1 3 , 2 009 202-358-1761 sonja.r.alexander@nasa.gov RELEASE: 09-238 NASA ANNOUNCES COMMERCIAL RLV TECHNOLOGY ROADMAP PROJECT WASHINGTON -- NASA is partnering with the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory to develop a technology roadmap for the commercial reusable launch vehicle, or RLV, industry. "NASA is committed to stimulating the emerging commercial reusable launch vehicle industry," said Lori Garver, deputy administrator at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "There is a natural evolutionary path from today's emerging commercial suborbital RLV industry to growing and developing the capability to provide low-cost, frequent and reliable access to low Earth orbit. One part of our plan is to partner with other federal agencies to develop a consensus roadmap of the commercial RLV industry's long-range technology needs." The study will focus on identifying technologies and assessing their potential use to accelerate the development of commercial reusable launch vehicles that have improved reliability, availability, launch turn-time, robustness and significantly lower costs than current launch systems. The study results will provide roadmaps with recommended government technology tasks and milestones for different vehicle categories. "Low-cost and reliable access to space will deliver significant benefits to all NASA's existing missions, from science to human exploration to aeronautics, as well as to our nation's security and to national economic growth," said Doug Comstock, director of NASA's Innovative Partnerships Program at NASA Headquarters. "Part of our plan is to apply lessons learned from the recent past and also the great successes of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics in stimulating the American commercial airplane industry nearly 100 years ago." This NASA and Air Force study will begin at the Commercial and Government Responsive Access to Space Technology Exchange 2009, held in Dayton, Ohio, Oct. 26-29. NASA and the Air Force Research Lab, with participation from the Federal Aviation Administration's Office of Commercial Space Transportation, will meet with representatives from the commercial RLV industry to explore and understand their long-range growth plans and the technology they could use to implement those plans successfully. NASA's Innovative Partnerships Program is leading the study. For more information about the Innovative Partnerships Program, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/offices/ipp/home

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Objective:

• Studywillfocusonidentifyingtechnologiesandassessingtheirrelativeutilityforenablingfuturespaceaccesscapabilities

• PrimaryGoal:AcceleratedevelopmentofCommercialReusableLaunchVehicles(CRLV’s)‐‐vehiclesdevelopedandoperatedbycommercialcompanies

• PerformanceGoals:

– Significantlylowercost(10xreduction)

– Improvedreliability,availability,launchturn‐time– Andimprovedrobustnesscomparedtocurrentlaunchsystems

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GeneralApproach:

• Willpursuea“NACA”styleapproachtoidentifyimportanttechnologiesandothergovernmentserviceswhichwillincreasethechancesforcommercialcompaniestoproduceCRLV’s

• AvoidstheexpensiveandriskygovernmentfundedRLVdevelopmentapproachusedpreviouslywithNASPortheX‐33/34/38

• Allowsgovernmentactivitiestoleveragecommercialinvestmentsandactivities,magnifyingthevalueofgovernmentdollars

• ProvidesatechnologyandservicebasethatisapplicabletogovernmentprogramsbeyondCRLV’s,includinghumanandplanetaryexploration

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Benefits:

• LowercostaccesstospaceprovidedbyCRLV’swillbenefitawiderangeofNASAmissionsandactivities,including– UseoftheInternationalSpaceStation– Planetaryexplorationmissions– Humanexplorationmissions– Earthobservations

• Willalsopromotedevelopmentofnewcommercialspaceindustriesprovidingnewjobs,technologiesandcapabilities,alongwithimportantnewresourcesforthecountry

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CRLVTechnologyRoadmap

PrimaryTechnologyAreas:– Entry,DescentandRecoverySystems,andAdvancedTPS

– Propulsion,OMSandACS

– StructuresandMaterials

– Avionics,CommunicationsandFlightControl

– Vehicle(Internal)Energy&ThermalManagementSystems

– LifeSupportandSafetySystems

– On‐orbitOperationsandEquipment

– GroundSupport,OperationsandProcessingEquipment

– AdvancedConceptTechnologies

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Team

TheTeamperformingthisworkismadeupof:– Oversight:DougComstock/NASA,CharlesMiller/NASA,

MinooDastoor/NASA,BruceThieman/AFRL,ThomasJacobs/AFRL

– Leads:DanRasky/NASA&WalterGlance/AFRL– TechnicalSupport–NASA:JoeShaw/GRC,DavidHunstman/GRC,

JulieFowler/LaRC,RonMerski/LaRC,JohnKelly/DFRC,RussBarber/DFRC,MarkNall/MSFC,DavidStephenson/MSFC,BruceMorris/MSFC,WilliamHosler/JSC,BrianHall/WFF,LloydEldred/LaRC,BrianHollis/LaRC,BrianJensen/LaRC,HyunD.Kim/GRC,SungwanKim/LaRC,RogerLepsch/LaRC,DavidManzella/GRC,KevinMelcher/GRC,AjayMisra/GRC,MarkNewfield/ARC,HughPerkins/GRC,JillPrince/LaRC,SaiRaj/GRC,CharlesSmith/ARC,CharlesTrefny/GRC,WilliamWinfree/LaRC,JamesYuko/GRC,GregorHanuschak/ARC,JenniferCole/DFRC,BrucePittman/ARC,TonyGinn/DFRC,BruceWebbon/ARC,RajVentekapathy/ARC,CareyMccleskey/KSC,RusselRhodes/KSC

– TechnicalSupport–AFRL:NilsSedano,JeremyAndrews,JeffreyV.Zweber

– TechnicalSupport–FAA:NickDemidovich,MichelleMurray

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Approach

• Fourcategoriesofspaceaccessvehiclesbeingconsidered:

1.Reusable,sub‐orbitalvehicles(e.g.,VirginGalactic,BlueOrigin,XCOR,Masten,Armadillo,etc.)

2.Expendableandpartiallyreusable,orbitalvehicles(e.g.,SpaceX,Orbital,etc.)

3.Reusable,two‐stageorbitalvehicles(e.g.,AFglide‐back&boost‐back)

4.Advancedvehicleconcepts(e.g.,air‐breathingsystems,power‐beaming,tetheredupperstage,...)

• TheSandiaTechnologyRoadmappingStructure/Approach(SAND97-0665)isbeingusedforRoadmapdevelopment

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Approach(Cont.)

• NASA/USAFbeganthestudybysolicitingfeedbackfromthecommercialspaceindustryabouttechnologiesthatwouldmostbenefittheirexistingandnear‐termvehiclesystems

• Initialinputsobtainedfromone‐on‐oneinterviewswith19companiesattheUSAF/NASACRASTE2009conference,October26‐29,2009

• Websitesetuptocollectinputsfromcompaniesfortheteamat:http://csi.arc.nasa.gov‐‐todateover30companyinputsanddocumentssubmitted

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CompanyInterviews

Todate29companiesinterviewed:• Small(<100employees)

– AdventLaunchSystems,AndrewsSpace(on‐site),ArmadilloAerospace,Astrox,BarronAssociates,CeDev,FirestarEngineering(on‐site),GarveySpacecraftCorporation,GoHypersonics,MastenSpaceSystems(on‐site),OrionPropulsion,SpaceworksEngineering,TGVRockets,XCOR(on‐site)

• Medium(100‐1000)– BlueOrigin(on‐site),MicrocosmInc.,Orbitec,ScaledComposites(on‐site),SierraNevada,SpaceX(on‐site)

• Large(>1000)– ATK,Boeing,EADSAstrium,LockheedMartin,Northrop‐Grumman,Raytheon,Pratt&Whitney,UnitedLaunchAlliance,VoughtAircraft

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PreliminaryResults‐CompanyIdentifiedNeeds

FourPrincipleNeedAreasIdentified:1. BusinessSupport

2. GovernmentServices

3. SpecificTechnologies

4. IntegratedFlightDemonstrator(s)

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PreliminaryResults‐CompanyIdentifiedNeeds

#CompaniesBusinessSupport81‐Helptostimulateandsupportnewcustomers,

includingsmallpayloads&theirintegration

42‐Helptomaintain/increasespecializedhardwareandcomponentsuppliers

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PreliminaryResults‐CompanyIdentifiedNeeds

113‐Helpproviderangeoperationsimplification,automationandstandardization,in‐particularforsmalllaunchsystems,andincludingdailyatmosphericdatasupportandvehiclehazardassessments

122‐Alloweasieraccesswithimprovedusersupporttogovernmentspecializedspace‐vehicledesignsoftware

26‐Helpwithremovalofdangerousorbitaldebris

75‐Developandmakeavailablegovernmentstandards,databasesandreportsforspace‐vehicleandsubsystemdesign,testing,operationandfailures

104‐Provideresponsive,affordableaccesstogovernmentsubjectareaexperts

131‐Provideresponsive,affordableaccesstogovernmentfacilitiesandequipment(e.g.wind‐tunnels,rocketteststands,arc‐jets,largecryo‐tanktooling)

#CompaniesGovernmentServices

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PreliminaryResults‐CompanyIdentifiedNeeds

32PropulsionandCryogenics

81‐DevelopandcharacterizemoreoperablefuelsforOMS,RCSandvacuumAPU,includingverysmallthrusters

52‐Newhigh‐temperaturematerialsandadvanceddesignsforturbopumps,advancedinjectors,thrustchambersandnozzles

43‐Lowcostthrustvectorcontrol

34‐Advancedcyrogenicseals,valvesandbellows

25‐Advancedcyrofluidmanagementsystems

26‐Reduce/eliminateordinanceweightandcomplexity

27‐CharacterizationofLOX/MethaneenginesanddevelopmentofimprovedLOX/Methanefuels

28‐Lowcostpressurizedsystemsforpropulsion

29‐Large(~450klb)andsmall(50‐100klb)classLOX/RPenginesforrocketboosters

110‐Subsoniccombustionramjetsforacceleratormissions(highT/WratherthanmaximizingISP)

111‐Reusablerocketmotorcases

15‐Powerfulandlight‐weightspacequalifiedbatteries

14‐Methodsforrapidincorporationofstate‐of‐the‐artelectronicsinspacesystems

13‐Automatedtoolsforanalysisandverificationofcomplexelectroniccircuits/programmablelogic

22AvionicsandVehicleElectronics

42‐Advancedsensorsandwirelesssystemsforvehicledataacquisition,controlandpower

151‐Developadvancedavionics,includingautonomousflight,adaptiveflightcontrolandIVHM

#CompaniesSpecificTechnologies

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PreliminaryResults‐CompanyIdentifiedNeeds

23‐Light‐weightlandinggear

32‐Rapid/realtimemissionplanningtools

32‐Standardon‐orbitdockingsystemsandprocedures

17EntrySystemsandTPS

131‐OperableTPSwithautomatedinspection,andrapidrepairandrecertification

42‐Hardwareentry,descentandrecoverytechniques,includingair‐snatch,verticallandingandoceanrecoveries

17MaterialsandStructures

81‐Advanced,non‐autoclavecompositesforstructuresandtankage,includinglinerlessLOXandcompositeover‐rapmetallictanks,andtankfailurecharacterization

72‐Newlight‐weight,high‐temperature,high‐performancematerialsandcompositesforstructures,includingfatiguetesting,materialcompatibilityandallowables,andpredictivefailuremethods

7CrewSystemsandIn‐FlightOperations

16GroundProcessingandOperations

41‐Crewsystems&humanfactorsincludingg‐limits,ECLSS,andautomatedflightsafetysystems

131‐Operationalmethodsforinspection,repairandrecertificationofspacehardware,includingISHMandadvancedsensors

#CompaniesSpecificTechnologies(Cont.)

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PreliminaryResults‐CompanyIdentifiedNeeds

16Sponsorintegrated,reusable,flightdemonstrator(s)foradvancedtechnologyintegration,andoperationalmethodsdevelopment

#CompaniesIntegratedFlightDemonstrator(s)

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Products

• Roadmapswithrecommendedgovernmenttechnologytasksandmilestoneswillbecompiledanddocumented,alongwithinitialbudgetandresourcerequirementestimates

• InitialroadmapswillbeconstructedbyJuly,2010andpresentedattheSpaceFrontierFoundationNewSpaceConferenceatNASAAmes,July23‐25th

• FinalroadmapswillbedocumentedbySeptember,2010

• ArefreshoftheCRLVTechnologyRoadmapswillbeginattheNASA/USAFCRASTE2010conferencehostedatNASAAmes,October25‐28,2010

Questions?

BackupSlides

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ThelawthatcreatedNASA,theNationalAeronauticsandSpaceActof1958,asamended,givesNASAanoften

overlookedmission.

NASA’sfoundinglegislationstatesthatwewill“seekandencourage,tothemaximumextentpossible,thefullest

commercialuseofspace.”

RemarksbytheNASAAdministratorGenCharlesBolden

NationalAssociationofInvestmentCompanies

WashingtonDC,October20,2009

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PathForward

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NASAProposed2011Budget

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SpaceTechnologyBudget