IAC-13-D2.4.11 THE AUSTRAL LAUNCH VEHICLE: REDUCING SPACE TRANSPORTATION COST THROUGH REUSABILITY, MODULARITY AND SIMPLICITY

摘要

Re-usable launch vehicles (LV's) have long promised significant cost reductions, but experience with operational vehicles has shown that re-usability alone is not sufficient to realise cost savings or increased reliability. This project originated as an investigation into the additional requirements that will ensure that re-usability can provide real launch cost reduction. Through market studies and programme cost estimates these requirements have been identified as modularity, flexibility and simplicity. Modularity is required to increase vehicle flight rate (servicing a wider payload range by using different configurations of standard modules) and reduce development cost (through reduction of the number and size of newly developed elements). Flexibility is required to enable servicing of a range of missions, and simplicity leads to critical reductions in both development and operational costs. Using these guiding principles, a new vehicle, named the Austral Launch Vehicle (ALV), is being developed. Various system architecture options were evaluated against the guiding principles to arrive at an acceptable configuration. The resulting vehicle is partially re-usable, with the upper stages being expendable. The first stage liquid propellant boosters are recovered by flying back to the launch site. These first stage modules represent the bulk of the vehicle cost, and are far easier to re-enter and recover than the upper stages. The ALV is currently under development as an advanced academic programme in Australia. A smaller version of the ALV (100 - 1000 kg payload to Sun-Synchronous Orbit) which was originally intended to be a technology demonstrator has generated significant industry and academic interest. The development of this smaller vehicle is now the primary focus of the project.