Several major efforts are aimed at finding ways to reduce the cost of launching spacecraft. However, it typically costs much more to build a spacecraft than to launch it to low earth orbit (LEO). Unless spacecraft costs are reduced, even dramatic reductions in launch costs will have only a small effect on total spacecraft program costs. Four possible approaches to spacecraft design that have been proposed to reduce total spacecraft program costs are reviewed. These are to design payloads to fit launch vehicles except for a 15 percent margin to accommodate variations in size and weight, to allow payloads to be larger and heavier (referred to as Fatsats), to allow satellites to be simplier, and make them lighter (Lightsats), and to design Microspacecraft to be launched like artillery shells. Adopting such approaches could change the launch rates, payload capacity, and reliability demanded of conventional launch vehicles, or create a demand for exotic launch systems to launch very small spacecraft cheaply. Conversely, developing new, economical launch systems would strengthen incentives to adopt these new approaches to spacecraft design.
Affordable Spacecraft: Design and Launch Alternatives. Background Paper
1990
43 pages
Report
No indication
English
Making Spacecraft Affordable: An Assessment of Alternatives
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