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，这些火箭旨在每天飞往太空，以数量级更低的成本将卫星直接运送到最终轨道。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。这些颠覆性的变化是必要的，以使拟议的太空解决方案的新领域在商业上可行。这个提议的解决方案可以为未得到服务和服务不足的人群提供互联网接入，并能够监测地球系统，应对气候变化和生产能源。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，使航天运载火箭能够重新进入大气层并以推进方式着陆，以便可以重复使用。这种能力长期以来一直在寻求，但由于高效率的推进，强大的热保护和上面级重复使用所需的低结构质量的组合，仍然没有得到证实。技术障碍在于找到一种再入热防护解决方案，该解决方案可以承受火箭发动机操作和大气层进入的压力环境，同时重量轻，成本低，并且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第一阶段确定的隔热罩概念，建造一个全尺寸原型，并在模拟飞行上升阶段和再入大气层期间高超音速飞行阶段的工作条件的环境中对其进行测试。这项测试将分几个阶段进行，复杂性将不断增加。每个阶段的测试数据将用于验证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罩结构的开发风险。该奖项反映了NSF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.