Continuing Issues (FY 1983) Concerning Military Use of the Space Transportation System.

Abstract

This study is a continuation of IDA studies of DoD concerns about the Space Transportation System (STS). Principal issues were the payload and cost of upper stages for delivery to geostationary orbit (GEO) from the Shuttle, and the possible trends to cost and operational efficiency of the Shuttle itself. Regarding the GEO payload capabilities of different upper stages on the Shuttle, the study addressed the capability from VAFB to GEO of the Centaur, the size and costs of conventional hybrid integral-propulsion solid perigee stages to utilize efficiently an integral submultiple of the Shuttle cargo bay, the compatibility of apogee-insertion and evasive-maneuvering requirements in defining the thrust of the engine for the integral propulsion system, the performance improvements in allowing the integral propulsion system to grow to fill the orbiter's total capacity on a fixed-size solid perigee stage, and the performance into 65-deg or 8-deg-inclination 24-hr circular orbits in comparison with that in GEO.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 1983
Accession Number
ADA146091

Entities

People

  • C. J. Donlan
  • G. W. Brady
  • R. G. Finke

Organizations

  • Institute for Defense Analyses

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Apogees
  • Artificial Satellites
  • Booster Rocket Engines
  • Circular Orbits
  • Contracts
  • Earth Orbits
  • Geosynchronous Orbits
  • Integrals
  • Landing Gear
  • Management Personnel
  • Payload
  • Perigees
  • Propulsion Systems
  • Rocket Engines
  • Space Systems
  • Space Transportation
  • Spacecraft

Readers

  • Electrical Engineering
  • Life Cycle Cost Analysis
  • Space Exploration and Orbital Mechanics.

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Orbital Debris