SBIR Phase II: Integrated propulsion solution to enable reusable upper stages of space vehicles

这个小企业创新研究第二阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发可重复使用的火箭，这些火箭被设计成每天飞向太空，以较低的成本将卫星直接送入最终轨道。完全可重复使用的运载火箭将减轻客户痛苦的三个关键因素：价格、可用性和服务。我们需要这些颠覆性的变革，以使太空解决方案的新领域在商业上可行。这一提议的解决方案可能会为服务不足的人口提供互联网接入，并为监测地球系统、应对气候变化和生产能源提供能力。空间资产还可以提供跟踪、预测和最终控制环境的能力。这个小企业创新研究第二阶段项目开发了一种新技术，使太空运载火箭能够重新进入大气层并推进着陆，以便它们可以重复使用。长期以来，人们一直在寻求这种能力，但由于高效推进、强大的热保护和上层重复使用所需的低结构质量的结合，这种能力尚未得到证实。技术上的障碍在于寻找一种再入热保护的解决方案，既能承受火箭发动机运行和进入大气层的压力环境，又能减轻重量和成本，不需要在飞行之间进行维护。拟议的研究和发展的目标是继续发展在第一阶段确定的隔热罩概念，建立一个全尺寸原型，并在模拟飞行上升阶段和大气层再入过程中高超音速飞行阶段的操作条件的环境中进行测试。该测试将分几个阶段进行，并且复杂度会不断增加。来自每个阶段的测试数据将用于迭代设计并收敛于可接受的解决方案，从而在轨道飞行尝试之前降低新型隔热结构的开发风险。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research Phase II project is the development of reusable rockets that are designed to fly to space daily, delivering satellites directly to their final orbit at order-of-magnitude lower costs. Fully reusable launch vehicles will relieve three key elements of customer pain: price, availability, and service. These disruptive changes are needed to make a new frontier of proposed in-space solutions commercially viable. This proposed solution may provide internet access to un- and under-served populations and the ability to monitor Earth systems, combat climate change, and produce energy. Space assets may additionally provide the ability to track, predict, and ultimately control the environment. This Small Business Innovation Research Phase II project develops a new technology that enables space launch vehicles to reenter the atmosphere and land propulsively so that they may be reused. This capability has long been sought but remains unproven due to the combination of high efficiency propulsion, robust thermal protection, and low structural mass required for upper stage reuse. The technical hurdles lie in finding a solution for reentry thermal protection that can withstand the stressing environments of rocket engine operation and atmospheric entry while also being low-weight and low-cost and not requiring maintenance between flights. The goals of the proposed research and development are to continue to develop the heat shield concept identified in Phase I, building a full-scale prototype and testing it in environments that simulate both the operating conditions during the ascent phase of flight and the hypersonic phase of flight during atmospheric reentry. This testing will be conducted in several phases with increasing complexity. The test data from each phase will be used to iterate the design and converge on an acceptable solution, reducing the development risk of the novel heat shield architecture prior to an orbital flight attempt.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.