Hybrid Sounding Rocket: Flexible, Affordable, Non-toxic Spaceflight
- Paper number
IAC-09.B4.5.-D2.7.11
- Author
Mr. Jesse Koenig, Sierra Nevada Corp., United States
- Year
2009
- Abstract
Sounding rockets provide sub-orbital launch for missions needing to fly in space or at very high velocities, but not requiring the long duration of Earth-orbit. Generally, sub-orbital launch is vastly less expensive than orbital launch. Typical sounding rocket missions involve space experiments for science or education, space hardware qualification tests, and hypersonics research, among myriad other applications. The Hybrid Sounding Rocket (HSR) will bring the benefits of hybrid propulsion technology to sounding rocket users. In contrast to traditional all-liquid or all-solid rocket propulsion systems, hybrid rockets employ a solid fuel and a liquid oxidizer. With few moving parts, hybrids are simpler and less costly than liquid rockets, but safer and more flexible than solid rockets. Due to the high costs of liquid propulsion systems, all current sounding rockets use solid motors, which are simple and low-cost, but have the drawbacks of being highly toxic, explosive, non-throttleable, and non-restartable. HSR will be built around the proven hybrid motor that propelled SpaceShipOne to win the Ansari X Prize. Using the SpaceShipOne motor greatly decreases development costs and risks, while ensuring high reliability. HSR’s recurring cost will be competitive with that of current solid sounding rockets, but HSR will have the following advantageous attributes: Non-explosive—allowing simple and low-cost transportation, storage, and operations, as well as more launch site options, all leading to highly flexible and responsive launch capability; Throttleable and restartable—giving users the ability to easily customize flight trajectories without re-designing the vehicle; Non-toxic—reducing environmental impact by producing no perchlorate contamination or highly acidic exhaust gas emission (both of which are produced by current solid sounding rockets), and further decreasing operational costs while increasing launch flexibility and responsiveness (e.g. via launch site environmental compliance). Moreover, HSR will be particularly well-suited to launching Cube-Sats and other student space experiments, which are becoming ever more numerous, but currently have very limited launch opportunities. This paper will describe technical and programmatic aspects of HSR.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
(absent)