Session
Technical Session X: Launch Update
Abstract
The Peacekeeper (PK) Space Launch Vehicle (SLV) is a new launch vehicle for providing cost effective spacelift for small-to-medium, Government-sponsored spacecraft, including addressing an emerging need of small Geosynchronous (GEO) spacecraft. This vehicle is being developed by Orbital Sciences under the Orbital Suborbital Program 2 (OSP-2) contract with the United States Air Force (USAF) Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) Detachment 12 Rocket System Launch Program (RSLP). Preliminary designs and capabilities were presented at the 2003 Small Satellite Conference. In the year since, there has been significant interest in the PK SLV, and the first missions have been initiated with an anticipated first launch in 2007. In addition to the baseline LEO and MEO orbital missions, a burgeoning interest has been revealed in using a PK SLV derivative to deliver small spacecraft to high energy orbits, such as geosynchronous transfer orbits (GTO) and beyond, including potential lunar missions. This Peacekeeper Space Lift Vehicle (PK SLV) follows in the heritage of RSLP and Orbital’s Minotaur SLV, merging advanced commercial launch vehicle technology with surplus Air Force boosters to provide a low cost, low risk spacelift capability to US-Government sponsored spacecraft. The baseline PK SLV uses the first three Peacekeeper solid-rocket stages in unmodified form, along with the same Orion 38 Stage 4 insertion motor as Pegasus, Taurus, and Minotaur. The avionics design is shared with the other OSP-2 vehicles, including the Minotaur SLV. It also uses the 92 inch payload fairing that was developed and flown for Orbital’s Taurus SLV. This combination of common, flight proven avionics and subsystems, along with existing ICBM motors results in a new vehicle that has a very low risk and low cost development. This paper presents the status and capabilities of this baseline PK SLV system. More significantly, it will cover the development of the enhanced evolution that addresses the development of the capability for delivering relatively small spacecraft to GTO and other high energy orbits. To maximize performance to these high orbits, different upper stage motors have been evaluated and the mechanical design mass optimized
Presentation Slides
Low Cost Spacelift to LEO, GTO, and Beyond using the OSP-2 Peacekeeper Space Launch Vehicle
The Peacekeeper (PK) Space Launch Vehicle (SLV) is a new launch vehicle for providing cost effective spacelift for small-to-medium, Government-sponsored spacecraft, including addressing an emerging need of small Geosynchronous (GEO) spacecraft. This vehicle is being developed by Orbital Sciences under the Orbital Suborbital Program 2 (OSP-2) contract with the United States Air Force (USAF) Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) Detachment 12 Rocket System Launch Program (RSLP). Preliminary designs and capabilities were presented at the 2003 Small Satellite Conference. In the year since, there has been significant interest in the PK SLV, and the first missions have been initiated with an anticipated first launch in 2007. In addition to the baseline LEO and MEO orbital missions, a burgeoning interest has been revealed in using a PK SLV derivative to deliver small spacecraft to high energy orbits, such as geosynchronous transfer orbits (GTO) and beyond, including potential lunar missions. This Peacekeeper Space Lift Vehicle (PK SLV) follows in the heritage of RSLP and Orbital’s Minotaur SLV, merging advanced commercial launch vehicle technology with surplus Air Force boosters to provide a low cost, low risk spacelift capability to US-Government sponsored spacecraft. The baseline PK SLV uses the first three Peacekeeper solid-rocket stages in unmodified form, along with the same Orion 38 Stage 4 insertion motor as Pegasus, Taurus, and Minotaur. The avionics design is shared with the other OSP-2 vehicles, including the Minotaur SLV. It also uses the 92 inch payload fairing that was developed and flown for Orbital’s Taurus SLV. This combination of common, flight proven avionics and subsystems, along with existing ICBM motors results in a new vehicle that has a very low risk and low cost development. This paper presents the status and capabilities of this baseline PK SLV system. More significantly, it will cover the development of the enhanced evolution that addresses the development of the capability for delivering relatively small spacecraft to GTO and other high energy orbits. To maximize performance to these high orbits, different upper stage motors have been evaluated and the mechanical design mass optimized
