Sustainability is becoming a key parameter for future launch vehicle developments, and it is necessary to integrate it properly in the early development phases of a project. This can be carried out by using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) coupled in a Multidisciplinary Analysis and Optimization (MDAO) framework. The environmental impact of a launch vehicle is considered here as a full discipline within the multi-disciplinary framework, allowing it to communicate directly with all other relevant disciplines. However, the life cycle of a launch vehicle includes not only aspects linked directly to the launch vehicle itself, but also external parameters, such as manufacturing and launch location, logistics, and production techniques. Moreover, current life cycle assessments show that the launch event itself accounts for less than 50% of the global warming impact; the rest is linked to the production of fuel and materials, assembly, and logistics, all of which heavily depends on geographical location, local energy cost and logistics requirements.
This paper presents a comparative study of the environmental impact variations, for a given launch vehicle design optimized with MDAO, based on variation in the production and launch site location, and for different the transportation methods used. For a representative launch vehicle model built in a multidisciplinary framework, a coupled environmental discipline is added and parametrized with the available environmental data for various locations around the world. To represent the various logistics schemes, transportation of the parts of the launch vehicle are added to the life cycle inventory, and then the scenarios are compared in terms of resulting global warming potential impact. It highlights the importance of the local environment and energy policies in the overall impact of a launch vehicle, as well as the potential benefits of efficient regional collaboration for the sustainability of the space industry.
Impact of Geographical and Logistics Considerations on the Life Cycle Assessment of Launch Vehicles
Lect. Notes Electrical Eng.
Asia-Pacific International Symposium on Aerospace Technology ; 2023 ; Lingshui, China October 16, 2023 - October 18, 2023
2023 Asia-Pacific International Symposium on Aerospace Technology (APISAT 2023) Proceedings ; Kapitel : 121 ; 1558-1568
2024-07-05
11 pages
Aufsatz/Kapitel (Buch)
Elektronische Ressource
Englisch
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