Military spaceplane operations scenarios envision using the “Pop-Up” employment profile to significantly increase the payload to orbit capability of the vehicle. Previous studies have investigated a range of propulsion system and stage design options for a pop-up upper stage (Cotta 1996). Operationally it is desirable to have the upper stage and payload stored as a wooden round that is quickly loaded on the spaceplane when needed. The current study therefore focuses on non-toxic (less-toxic), storable propellant options. These are compared to the use of conventional (toxic) storable bi-propellant, Nitrogen Tetroxide/Monomethyl Hydrazine and cryogenic oxidizer bi-propellant, options. The non-toxic oxidizers investigated include Hydrogen Peroxide and Hydroxyammonium Nitroformate (HANF). The non-toxic fuels include hydrocarbon jet fuel (JP-4), Quadricyclane and Methylcubane The impact of purity (90% to 100%) and various fuel blends are also evaluated. The comparison includes payload delivery performance, propellant handling issues and technology development needs. The results show that there are propellant combinations that are less toxic than and yet deliver comparable payload delivery performance. However, there are propellant handling issues and technology development needs that must be addressed. These are discussed.
Non-toxic propulsion for spaceplane “pop-up” upper stages
Space technology and applications international forum - 1998 ; 1998 ; Albuquerque,New Mexico (USA)
AIP Conference Proceedings ; 420 , 1 ; 270-275
1998-01-15
6 pages
Conference paper
Electronic Resource
English
Non-Toxic Propulsion for Spaceplane "Pop-up" Upper Stages
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