Launch Site Payload Operations In The Coming Spaceport Era

摘要

Following the completion of the International Space Station assembly, the development and initiation of 2nd Generation Reusable Launch Vehicle operations, the emergence of commercial space activity on a greater scale, and the evolution of the Cape Canaveral-Kennedy Space Center spaceport, the demands for launch site payload processing and operations can be expected to escalate geometrically in the years 2010 to 2025. Access to space in this coming era must address the question of what payloads; human and otherwise, will be launched into space in order to plan for provisions that must be made to successfully process these payloads and integrate them into the space access system. In order to be ready to meet these needs for the payloads it is imperative that efforts begin to identify and define the parameters that will generate these needs. This paper investigates and identifies the space system parameters that will define the potential payload fleet and associated architectures. It will also identify areas requiring analysis. The paper addresses technical, regulatory, operational, economic, and policy parameters and issues and also outlines initiatives in analytical evaluation of how such factors interact with spaceport development and operation.