Session
Technical Session II: Current Ways to Get to Orbit
Abstract
In August of 2003, flight hardware for the EELV Secondary Payload Adapter (ESPA) will be delivered to Cape Canaveral. The ESPA Ring and five spacecraft will launch on an Air Force Delta IV mission scheduled for March 2006. This flight, STP-1, will be the maiden voyage for a payload adapter that was conceived by the Air Force in 1995 to provide a secondary payload capability for Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles (EELVs). ESPA was designed and flight qualified during the period of 1999 to 2002, for use with both Atlas V and Delta IV launch vehicles. The ESPA Ring provides an American counterpart to the Ariane adapter that has been exploited for European launches since 1990. It is now feasible for up to six secondary spacecraft to be placed in orbit whenever a Delta IV Medium or Atlas V (400 or 500 series) launch is configured with excess payload capacity. Since the majority of EELV launches in the foreseeable future have significant excess capacity, the small satellite community has a significant new option for access to space.
Presentation Slides
ESPA from Concept to Flight Hardware
In August of 2003, flight hardware for the EELV Secondary Payload Adapter (ESPA) will be delivered to Cape Canaveral. The ESPA Ring and five spacecraft will launch on an Air Force Delta IV mission scheduled for March 2006. This flight, STP-1, will be the maiden voyage for a payload adapter that was conceived by the Air Force in 1995 to provide a secondary payload capability for Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles (EELVs). ESPA was designed and flight qualified during the period of 1999 to 2002, for use with both Atlas V and Delta IV launch vehicles. The ESPA Ring provides an American counterpart to the Ariane adapter that has been exploited for European launches since 1990. It is now feasible for up to six secondary spacecraft to be placed in orbit whenever a Delta IV Medium or Atlas V (400 or 500 series) launch is configured with excess payload capacity. Since the majority of EELV launches in the foreseeable future have significant excess capacity, the small satellite community has a significant new option for access to space.
