The cost effectiveness of electric propulsion in the shuttle stage of a rocket engine, moving the payload from lower orbit to higher orbit after the launch stage has moved it from ground to lower orbit, is compared with that of a liquid propellant shuttle. The evaluation is based on the mass balance in each case, in accordance with optimum design parameters for a typical flight program, considering that a liquid propellant shuttle requires a storage tank and feeders in addition to the power plant with energy converter. Numerical calculations indicate that the optimum power plant capacity for delivering a thrust of 3.2 to 5 N to a shuttle with initial mass of 30 t, with a specific pulse of 17 to 34 kN x s/kg and a life expectancy of (1-10) x 10,000 h, will be within the 70 to 83 kW range. Shuttling a payload into a geostationary orbit with oxyhydrogen liquid propellant costs roughly 4.500 U.S.$/kg, while using electric propulsion can reduce this cost by a factor of 1.5 to 3.2 for up to three flights.
Cost Effectiveness and Optimal Parameters of Rocket Engine with Electric Propulsion for Space Shuttle
1986
1 pages
Report
Keine Angabe
Englisch
NTIS | 1994
NTIS | 1970
|NTRS | 1993
NTIS | 1994