Future Orbital Transfer Vehicle Technology Study, Volume I - Executive Summary
Abstract
This study has the objective of identifying missions for future orbit transfer vehicles (1995-2010) and defining the technology, operations and vehicle concepts that satisfy the transportation requirements. Several issues were examined. The first involved comparison of reusable space and ground based LO2/LH2 OTV's. Both vehicles used advanced space engines and aero assist capability. The SB OTV provided advantages in life cycle cost, performance and potential for improvement. The second issue was the comparison of an all LO2/LH2 OTV fleet with a fleet of LO2/LH2 OTVs and electric OTV's. The normal growth technology electric OTV used silicon cells with heavy shielding and argon ion thrusters. In this case, the LO2/LH2 OTV fleet provided a 23% advantage in total transportation cost. The third issue dealt with the impact of accelerated technology. An accelerated technology LF2/LH2 OTV provided improvements in performance relative to LO2/LH2 OTV but had higher DDT&E cost which negated its cost effectiveness. The accelerated technology electric vehicle used GaAs cells and annealing but still did not result in the mixed fleet being any cheaper than an all LO2/LH2 OTV fleet. The study conclusion is that reusable LO2/LH2 OTV's can serve all general purpose cargo roles between LEO and GEO for the foreseeable future. The most significant technology for the second generation vehicle would be space debris protection, on-orbit propellant storage and transfer and on-orbit maintenance capability.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 1982
- Accession Number
- ADA351604
Entities
People
- Eldon E. Davis
Organizations
- Boeing