Introduction to Reusable Launch Vehicles

DURATION: TWO DAYS
COURSE NO.: 5010

This course offers a detailed look at reusable launch vehicles, how they function, insight into limitations and opportunities for the future. Technology requirements and design challenges are addressed. Special payload accommodations and interfaces are discussed. You will receive a survey of the international inventory of potential contender reusable rocket engines.

COURSE MATERIALS:
Include extensive notes and reference materials.

Everyone involved in reusable launch vehicle programs. Those interested in the future of space access and launch vehicles. Launch vehicle customers and users. Space policy and decision makers in government and industry.

Reusable launch vehicle functions and subsystems. Physical limitations on space launch vehicles. Fundamental design drivers and technology needs for SSTOs. Impact on payload users selection processes and criteria. Current developments and trends for the future. Rules of thumb and design tips for reusable vehicles.

1. Introduction to Reusable Launch Vehicles and Their Functions.
   

   Reusable launch vehicle functions and terminology. Summary of space launch missions for reusable launch systems.

2. Fundamental Physics and Mathematics of Space Flight.
   

   The laws of mechanics and gravity. Fundamentals of low orbital flight and return to the launch site.

3. The Rocket Equation.
   

   Basic rocket and impulse equations. Mass ratio limitations to single stage vehicles. Multistage reusable launch vehicles and their advantages.

4. Ascent Trajectory Fundamentals and Design.
   

   Ascent trajectory design considerations for reusables. Reentry dynamics and impact on design and operations. Ascent simulation software. DAB Ascent Software.

5. Reusable Launch Vehicle Types and Systems.
   

   Reusable system types. Vehicle subsystem requirements.

6. Reusable Launch Vehicle Technologies.
   

   Technology requirements for single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) vehicles. Technology requirements for two-stage-to-orbit (TSTO) vehicles.

7. Technology Challenges for SSTO Vehicles.
   

   NASAs approach via the X-33 and X-34. Toughest identified technology requirements.

8. Technology Challenges for TSTO Vehicles.
   

   Non-NASA approach to low cost space access. Evolutionary approach to technology applications.

9. Payload Accommodations for Reusable Launch Vehicles.
   

   Special payload considerations for reusables. Payload interfaces and the interface control document (ICD). Operations and standardized interfaces.

10. Worldwide Survey of Rocket Engines for RLVs.
    

    Principles of rocket engine flow cycles. Survey of Candidate Rocket Engines.

11. Launch Sites and Operations.
    

    Summary of locations. Survey of operations.

12. Summary of the Seminar.
    

    Reusable launch vehicle rules of thumb. Projections for the future.

    Instructor: Marshall H. Kaplan, Ph.D. Marshall H. Kaplan, Ph.D., is a recognized expert in launch vehicle systems design and engineering. He has participated in a number of new launch vehicle developments  and has served as Chief Engineer on a fully-reusable and an expendable launch system. Dr. Kaplan is a member of the National Research Council’s Committee on Reusable Launch Vehicle Technology and Test Program, and has trained organizations that have won launch system contracts for military and commercial applications.  He has over 35 years of academic and industrial experience, served as Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the Pennsylvania State University, was the executive Director of a Space Research Institute, and has presented  launch vehicle courses in the U.S., Europe and South America.  In addition to publishing some 100 papers, reports, and articles on aerospace technologies, he is the author of several books, including the internationally used text, Modern Spacecraft Dynamics and Control.  Dr. Kaplan is a member of the AIAA Technical Committee on Space Transportation and holds advanced degrees from MIT and Stanford University.