Technology Development Prospects and Direction of Reusable Launch Vehicles and Future Propulsion Systems

Generic Simulation Models of Reusable Launch Vehicles

Analyzing systems by means of simulation is necessarily a time consuming process. This becomes even more pronounced when models of multiple systems must be compared. In general, and even more so in today’s fast-paced environment, competitive pressure does not allow for waiting on the results of a lengthy analysis. That competitive pressure also makes it more imperative that the processing perfo...

Adaptive Guidance Systems for Hypersonic Reusable Launch Vehicles

1 0-7803-6599-2/01/$10.00 © 2001 IEEE. Abstract— This paper presents an adaptive guidance system approach applied to hypersonic Reusable Launch Vehicles (RLVs). After an effector failure, it is assumed that the inner-closed-loop system utilizes a reconfigurable control algorithm to recover nominal maneuvering capabilities to the extent possible. However, nominal performance will typically not b...

D4ops: Design for Operations of Future Reusable Launch Systems

Designers of space launch systems should be cognizant of the impact of their design assumptions on operational characteristics. Operational metrics such as turnaround time, recurring cost, and headcount are critical factors for the future viability of such systems. The results presented here are from a study that seeks to determine in what manner design approaches can improve the operability of...

Development and future prospects of terahertz technology*

Defining Support Requirements During Conceptual Design of Reusable Launch Vehicles

Current methods for defining the operational support requirements of new systems are data intensive and require significant design information. Methods are being developed to aid in the analysis process of defining support requirements for new launch vehicles during their conceptual design phase that work with the level of information available during this phase. These methods will provide supp...