A proposed development program for the heat exchanger thruster and a parallel program for other key elements of a laser launch system are described. The HX thruster will be tested with different working fluids (hydrogen, helium, nitrogen, water) and power sources, and at scales from a few kW up to megawatts. Subscale launch vehicles can be tested with a variety of existing lasers, including LHMEL II and MIRACL. Laser and system development is simplified by designing around a “beam module” containing a modest‐power laser and beam director, which can be replicated to produce any desired total power.
Development Programs for the Heat Exchanger Thruster and HX Laser Launch System
BEAMED ENERGY PROPULSION: Second International Symposium on Beamed Energy Propulsion ; 2003 ; Sendai (JAPAN)
AIP Conference Proceedings ; 702 , 1 ; 251-262
30.03.2004
12 pages
Aufsatz (Konferenz)
Elektronische Ressource
Englisch
Development Programs for the Heat Exchanger Thruster and HX Laser Launch System
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