NASA/TM-108521, Curtis, L.A. and Van Dyke, M.K. and Lajoie*, R.M. and Woodcock*, G.R., Affordable In-Space Transportation, Preliminary Design Office Program Development Directorate NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, AL 35812 and *Missiles and Space Division, Boeing, Huntsville, AL, October 1996, pp. 124, Format(s): PDF 1501k |
Current and proposed launch systems will provide access to low-Earth orbit (LEO), and destinations beyond LEO, but the cost of delivering payloads will preclude the use of these services by many users. To develop and encourage revolutionary commercial utilization of geosynchronous orbit (GEO) and to provide an affordable means to continue NASA space science and exploration missions, the transportation costs to in-space destinations must be reduced. The principal objective of this study was to conceptually define three to four promising approaches to in-space transportation for delivery of satellites and other payloads, 3,000- to 10,000-lb class, to GEO destinations. This study established a methodology for evaluating in-space transportation systems based on life-cycle cost. The reusable concepts seemed to fare better in the evaluation than expendable, since a major driver in the life-cycle cost was the stage production cost
| Keywords: | in-space transportation, upper stages, solar thermal upper stage, cryogenic upper stage, hybrid upper stage, solid upper stage, solar electric upper stage |
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| CASI Document ID Number: | 96N36531 |
| Subjects: | Space Transportation And Safety: Space Transportation And Manned Spacecraft |
| ID Code: | 352 |
| Deposited On: | 02 July 2002 |