The development of commercial launch vehicles by SpaceX has greatly reduced the cost of launching mass to Low Earth Orbit (LEO). Reusable launch vehicles may further reduce the launch cost per kilogram. The new low launch cost makes open loop life support much cheaper than before. Open loop systems resupply water and oxygen in tanks for crew use and provide disposable lithium hydroxide (LiOH) in canisters to remove carbon dioxide. Short human space missions such as Apollo and shuttle have used open loop life support, but the long duration International Space Station (ISS) recycles water and oxygen and removes carbon dioxide with a regenerative molecular sieve. These ISS regenerative and recycling life support systems have significantly reduced the total launch mass needed for life support. But, since the development cost of recycling systems is much higher than the cost of tanks and canisters, the relative cost savings have been much less than the launch mass savings. The Life Cycle Cost (LCC) includes development, launch, and operations. If another space station was built in LEO, resupply life support would be much cheaper than the current recycling systems. The mission most favorable to recycling would be a long term lunar base, since the resupply mass would be large, the proximity to Earth would reduce the need for recycling reliability and spares, and the launch cost would be much higher than for LEO due to the need for lunar transit and descent propulsion systems. For a ten-year lunar base, the new low launch costs make resupply cheaper than recycling systems similar to ISS life support.
Much Lower Launch Costs Make Resupply Cheaper than Recycling for Space Life Support
2017
16 pages
Report
No indication
English
Space Launch Vehicles & Support Equipment , Launch costs , Cost reduction , Lithium hydroxides , Low earth orbits , Lunar bases , Life cycle costs , Spacecraft launching , International space station , Supplying , Recycling , Life support systems , Water , Oxygen , Carbon dioxide , Reusable launch vehicles , Low cost , Space commercialization , Space missions , Mission planning , Nasa space programs
Space Station resupply using expendable launch vehicles
AIAA | 1988
|Space Station resupply using expendable launch vehicles
NTRS | 1988
|