The Value of Enhanced Delta V Capacity: a Europa Clipper Case Study

摘要

Interplanetary flight can take years due to the vast distances, but the time spent traveling those distances is related to the amount of velocity change (also known as delta-v) rockets can provide. The Europa Clipper mission is analyzed to gain some insight into the value of a mission architecture's velocity change capacity. Value models considering time, cost, spacecraft, space mission operations, and return capability are used to rank preference for Venus-Earth-Earth-Gravity-Assist or Direct to Jupiter mission architectures. The analysis shows that the space mission operations costs are insignificant compared to the costs of the spacecraft and launch vehicles, but differences in spacecraft cost entailed by required spacecraft life show the advantages of selecting the Direct to Jupiter architecture. The cost of the Space Launch System required for the Direct architecture is a strong factor in determining which architecture has greater value. The cost of the Atlas V launcher and the spacecraft payload are also relatively strong influences on choice of architecture when mission value is not included in the analysis, so that extending the mission does not impact the architecture selection. However, when mission value is included, the Direct architecture is favored even when the cost of the SLS is much higher than the cost of the Atlas V. The discount rate and value of mission time are stronger influences than the cost of the Atlas V from this perspective and their influence grows as the mission is extended. The cost of the spacecraft and Atlas V became relatively minor factors in the architecture choice when mission value is considered. For the case of Europa Clipper the value of velocity change depends on the relative costs of the more capable launch vehicles regardless of whether mission value is considered. However, mission value seems of central importance, and it is connected to time: the mission is worth more when results are obtained sooner. Even with mission v