Modeling Regeneration Time and Ground Support Manpower for a Reusable Launch Vehicle

摘要

The military is pursuing a low-cost, responsive reusable launch vehicle that can rapidly place pay loads in orbit in response to national defense requirements. The reusable launch vehicle is currently in the early stages of its design phase, when it is critical to assess design alternatives in terms of their operational capabilities as well as their life cycle support requirements. The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory developed the space access vehicles mission and operations simulation (SAVMOS) model suite to assist in evaluating the mission cycle of the reusable launch vehicle. Part of the functionality of SAVMOS is the maintenance, integration, and launch pad operations simulation and test (MILEPOST) model. MILEPOST allows the user to evaluate candidate designs and perform tradeoff studies for the impact of design characteristics on regeneration time and support personnel requirements. We discuss MILEPOST development and present insights on process time and workforce sizing for several design alternatives.