Jun 26
source
seen from China
seen from Netherlands
seen from China
seen from France
seen from China
seen from Mexico
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Mexico
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Estonia
seen from Germany
seen from South Korea
seen from United States
seen from South Korea
seen from Italy
source
Venture Star
A US firm has announced that its groundbreaking new rocket engine is ready for testing, which promises to shake up the rocket industry in a manner Elon Mus
A US firm has announced that its groundbreaking new rocket engine is ready for testing, which promises to shake up the rocket industry in a manner Elon Musk would be proud of.
The company is called the ARCA Space Corporation, based in New Mexico. They are developing the world’s first single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) rocket, the Haas 2CA, which means there are no parts discarded on the way – the rocket launches and reaches orbit as one.
“When the Haas 2CA rocket launches, it will be the first rocket in history to place itself entirely into orbit,” ARCA notes on their website. “This opens new frontiers for exploration of the Solar System.”
This is made possible by what’s called a linear aerospike engine. Most modern rockets are multi-stage vehicles, using different parts of the rocket to operate first in the atmosphere of Earth and then in the vacuum of space. This means that, on the way to orbit, they discard their preliminary stages – a costly and complicated architecture.
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, for example, uses the first stage to escape the atmosphere and then the second stage to reach orbit. They have been able to start reusing their first stages by landing them on the ground, the first and only company to do so for an orbital rocket so far.
ARCA, however, is going down a different road. Their SSTO vehicle launches as one, using a revolutionary engine to replace the need for multiple stages.
The aerospike engine is a tapered rocket bell, which allows the ejection of hot gases to be manipulated to allow for different types of flight. In Earth’s atmosphere, the exhaust is narrowed to provide maximum thrust. Once in orbit, the exhaust can be spread out, increasing what’s known as the specific impulse – the efficiency of the engine.
To prove their rocket works, ARCA are planning to test the engine soon (they haven’t announced a firm date yet) at Spaceport America in New Mexico. Then, they plan to launch a prototype version of the rocket, called Demonstrator 3, to a height of 120 kilometers (75 miles).
Between August and October 2018, they will then perform the first full launch of the Haas 2CA from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. ARCA has the backing of NASA and several other agencies. Commercial launches are scheduled to begin in December 2018.
The finished Haas 2CA is not reusable. But ARCA claims they’ll be able to launch extremely cheaply, at a cost of $1 million per launch, thanks to using lightweight materials in the rocket’s construction. Each launch will be able to take up to 100 kilograms (220 pounds) to orbit, be that a single satellite or multiple cubesats.
(H/T: New Atlas)
"A NASA SR-71 successfully completed its first flight October 31, 1997 as part of the NASA/Rocketdyne/Lockheed Martin Linear Aerospike SR-71 Experiment (LASRE) at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California.
The SR-71 took off at 8:31 a.m. PST. The aircraft flew for one hour and fifty minutes, reaching a maximum speed of Mach 1.2 before landing at Edwards at 10:21 a.m. PST, successfully validating the SR-71/linear aerospike experiment configuration.
The goal of the first flight was to evaluate the aerodynamic characteristics and the handling of the SR-71/linear aerospike experiment configuration. The engine was not fired during the flight."
Date: October 31, 1997
NASA ID: EC97-44295-100
Video of the Lockheed Martin proposal for the X-33.
Date: 1995
Profile view of Lockheed Martin X-33 Venture Star design as of October 1999.
source, source
Comparison between the enlarged VentureStar and the X-33.
"This artist's rendering depicts the NASA/Lockheed Martin X-33 technology demonstrator alongside the Venturestar, a Single-Stage-To-Orbit (SSTO) Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV). The X-33, a half-scale prototype for the Venturestar, is scheduled to be flight tested in 1999. NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, plays a key role in the development and flight testing of the X-33. The RLV technology program is a cooperative agreement between NASA and industry. The goal of the RLV technology program is to enable signifigant reductions in the cost of access to space, and to promote the creation and delivery of new space services and other activities that will improve U.S. economic competitiveness. NASA Headquarter's Office of Space Access and Technology is overseeing the RLV program, which is being managed by the RLV Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, located in Huntsville, Alabama. The X-33 was a wedged-shaped subscale technology demonstrator prototype of a potential future Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) that Lockheed Martin had dubbed VentureStar. The company had hoped to develop VentureStar early this century. Through demonstration flight and ground research, NASA's X-33 program was to provide the information needed for industry representatives such as Lockheed Martin to decide whether to proceed with the development of a full-scale, commercial RLV program. A full-scale, single-stage-to-orbit RLV was to dramatically increase reliability and lower costs of putting a pound of payload into space, from the current figure of $10,000 to $1,000. Reducing the cost associated with transporting payloads in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) by using a commercial RLV was to create new opportunities for space access and significantly improve U.S. economic competitiveness in the world-wide launch marketplace. NASA expected to be a customer, not the operator, of the commercial RLV. The X-33 design was based on a lifting body shape with two revolutionary 'linear aerospike' rocket engines and a rugged metallic thermal protection system. The vehicle also had lightweight components and fuel tanks built to conform to the vehicle's outer shape. Time between X-33 flights was normally to have been seven days, but the program had hoped to demonstrate a two-day turnaround between flights during the flight-test phase of the program. The X-33 was to have been an unpiloted vehicle that took off vertically like a rocket and landed horizontally like an airplane. It was to have reached altitudes of up to 50 miles and high hypersonic speeds. The X-33 program was managed by the Marshall Space Flight Center and was to have been launched at a special launch site on Edwards Air Force Base. Due to technical problems with the liquid hydrogen tank, and the resulting cost increase and time delay, the X-33 program was cancelled in February 2001."
Date: September 23, 1999
source
NASA Identifier: NIX-ED97-43929, ED97-43938-1
"This is an artist's conception of the NASA/Lockheed Martin X-33 Advanced Technology Demonstrator being carried on the back of the 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. This was a concept for moving the X-33 from its landing site back to NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. The X-33 was a technology demonstrator vehicle for the Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV). The RLV technology program was a cooperative agreement between NASA and industry. The goal of the RLV technology program was to enable significant reductions in the cost of access to space, and to promote the creation and delivery of new space services and other activities that will improve U.S. economic competitiveness. NASA Headquarter's Office of Space Access and Technology oversaw the RLV program, which was being managed by the RLV Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, located in Huntsville, Alabama. Responsibilities of other NASA Centers included: Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, guidance navigation and control technology, manned space systems, and health technology; Ames Research Center, Mountain View, CA., thermal protection system testing; Langley Research Center, Langley, Virginia, wind tunnel testing and aerodynamic analysis; and Kennedy Space Center, Florida, RLV operations and health management.
Lockheed Martin's industry partners in the X-33 program are: Astronautics, Inc., Denver, Colorado, and Huntsville, Alabama; Engineering & Science Services, Houston, Texas; Manned Space Systems, New Orleans, LA; Sanders, Nashua, NH; and Space Operations, Titusville, Florida. Other industry partners are: Rocketdyne, Canoga Park, California; Allied Signal Aerospace, Teterboro, NJ; Rohr, Inc., Chula Vista, California; and Sverdrup Inc., St. Louis, Missouri."
Date: September 24, 1999
NASA ID: NIX-ED97-43938-5