CABIN ESCAPE SYSTEM: A WAY TO ENSURE CREW SAFETY DURING SUBORBITAL FLIGHTS

摘要

This paper deals with the conceptual design of a cabin escape system to be implemented on a spaceplane aimed at performing suborbital parabolic flights. After the identification of the reasons why an escape system is so interesting for this type of vehicle, a design methodology and the related support tool-chain are proposed and applied to the definition of an escape system for a single stage suborbital transportation system taken as reference case study. During the design process, specific attention is paid to the impact of onboard systems integration on the vehicle architecture and on the cabin escape system layout. Furthermore, the possibility of exploiting this system during the different phases of the mission has been evaluated and eventually, a preliminary impact risk analysis is reported.