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Aviation History
2002
2002 - 0812.PDF
TECHNOLOGY PROPULSION GUY NORRIS / LOS ANGELES Aerojet and P&W to trial Cobra Performance evaluation and design review will pave the way for full-up "powerhead" tests during next year Pratt & Whitney and Aerojet will hold a crucial preliminary design review on 31 March of the Cobra second-generation reusable launch vehicle (RLV) rocket engine as part of a build-up to a complete test of the engine's heart, called the powerhead, next year. The test run, which will evaluate the performance of the Cobra's main case, turbopumps and pre- burner, will mark the end of the first, two-year phase of the project which is funded under NASA's Space Launch Initiative. This is aimed at substantially reducing launch costs relative to the Space Shuttle, and dramatically improv ing safety. The first technology demonstration phase will be fol lowed by a second in which a full- scale prototype engine will be demonstrated and a third phase covering full-scale development. Although the focus is on Cobra - a moderate- to high-thrust engine aimed at the 500,0001b (2,225kN) to 800,0001b power bracket - P&W says a lower thrust proposal, the RLX, is "also getting a lot of at tention" as NASA approaches the downselect decision for the second two. Although the RLX is initially aimed at the lower 100,0001b- to 300,0001b-thrust bracket, Aerojet and P&W are studying technology demonstrations to prove that the split-expander liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen cycle can be scaled up to higher thrust. "A lot of feelers are being put out to find out if RLX will do that," the company adds. A third booster option, dubbed AJAX, is also being studied under Aerojet's lead. This is a US-based single pre-burner design using a staged combustion hydrocarbon fuel concept. "Once we get through the pow erhead test, then we plan to go to core tests and a prototype test," says P&W, adding that the evalua tion of Cobra in parallel with tech nology for RLX and AJAX is part of a "stepping-stone process over the next five years". As the technology evolves, NASA could "change direc tion" and adopt any of the booster technology options, it adds. The current timescale does not call for first flight of the second-generation RLV until 2010 to 2012. Before attempting the power- head test, P&W plans a partial pressure test of the Cobra pre- burner, to around 50%, at its West Palm Beach site in Florida, before a full pressure test is later attempted at NASA's John Stennis Space Center rocket propulsion test-site in Mississippi. SATELLITE SERVICING Boeing to show mettle of robot maintenance Boeing Phantom Works is to dem onstrate robotic on-orbit satellite servicing under a US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) contract worth around $100 million. Routine refuelling will allow satellites to be moved to adjust coverage or to avoid threats, while on-orbit upgrades promise to improve spacecraft effectiveness, says the agency. Boeing was selected over BAE Systems and Spectrum Astro for the 42-month second phase of DARPA's Orbital Express prog ramme, during which it plans to build the Autonomous Space Tran sport Robotic Operations satellite (ASTRO) and NextSat, a surrogate serviceable satellite. The industry team, led by Boeing, will contribute around $13.5 million to the cost-sharing programme. The group includes Ball Aerospace and Technologies, Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, TRW Space and Technology, and Canada's MD Robotics. Orbital Express is intended to demonstrate the technical feasibil ity and operational utility of autonomous on-orbit servicing. The programme involves develop ment of an industry-standard servicing interface that can be used by any satellite manufacturer. DARPA programme manager Maj James Shoemaker says robotic on-orbit servicing "has always looked good on paper, but has always been judged to have too high a technical risk and cost uncertainty". The demonstration is intended to "provide real-world experience" to allow developers of future satel lite systems "to make decisions which are based on facts rather than assumptions". NASA, under its Space Launch Initiative (SLI), is planning to partner DARPA on the Orbital Express demonstration, which, it expects, will reduce the risks associ ated with autonomous on-orbit rendezvous. The partnership is being spon sored by the SLI's Marshall Space Flight Center-led Alternate Access to Station project, which is looking for a means to re-supply the International Space Station using unmanned launch vehicles. The S-21 is set for operations later this year REUSABLE SPACE VEHICLE PAUL DUFFY / MOSCOW Russia to test space-tourist craft The Russian air and space agency (RAKA) is to launch test flights next month of a shuttle vehicle designed for the space-tourist market. The S-21 has been built by the Myasishchev experimental design Bureau to cater for sub-orbital rides into space. The development follows the emergence of space tourism, with the first trip made to the Inter national Space Station last April by US businessman Dennis Tito on a Russian Soyuz TM. The next space tourist, Mark Shuttleworth, is to fly on a Soyuz next month, while a third is lined up for a flight later this year. The S-21 will be carried by a Myasishchev M-55 high-altitude research aircraft for deployment at a height of 72,200ft (22,000m). It will carry two passengers and a pilot on a sub-orbital ballistic flight to an altitude of around 100km (60 miles). The S-21 craft will be test-flown in April and May, paving the way for operations later this year, says RAKA. Myasishchev general designer Valeri Novikov says the M-55/S-21 is a new direction for the bureau, although it developed the Soviet space shut tle Buran, launched in 1976 in response to the US Space Shuttle prog ramme. The S-21, measuring 5.5m by 7.7m and 2m high, uses much of the Buran's design and technology. The first full-scale Buran rolled out in 1984, but made only one unmanned orbital flight in 1988. The project was mothballed in the early 1990s due to funding constraints. 30 19-25 MARCH 2002 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com
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