Small Satellites and the DARPA/Air Force Falcon Program

The FALCON ((Force Application and Launch from CONUS) program is a technology demonstration effort with three major components: a Small Launch Vehicle (SLV), a Common Aero Vehicle (CAV), and a Hypersonic Cruise Vehicle (HCV). Sponsored by DARPA and executed jointly by the United States Air Force and DARPA with NASA participation, the objectives are to develop and demonstrate technologies that will enable both near-term and far-term capability to execute time-critical, global reach missions. The focus of this paper is on the SLV as it relates to small satellites and the implications of lower cost to orbit for small satellites. The target recurring cost for placing 1000 pounds payloads into a circular reference orbit of 28.5 degrees at 100 nautical miles is $5,000,000 per launch. This includes range costs but not the payload or payload integration costs. In addition to the nominal 1000 pounds to LEO, FALCON is seeking delivery of a range of orbital payloads from 220 pounds to 2200 pounds to the reference orbit. Once placed on alert status, the SLV must be capable of launch within 24 hours

Optimization of Hybrid Sounding Rockets for Hypersonic Testing

The use of ground-launched hybrid rockets to bring subscale models to flight conditions within the hypersonic flight corridor is investigated. The analysis is based on a multidisciplinary optimization procedure that couples the direct optimizations of the parameters that rule the engine geometry and operation and the indirect optimization of the trajectory. The final Mach number is maximized for given initial conditions and assigned payload and final altitude. Different rocket configurations are considered; in particular, the performance of single-stage and two-stage rockets are determined for different payload fractions. Results show that hybrid motors are suitable to accomplish this kind of mission, and that single-stage rockets are preferable. Only when the payload fraction is very small and large final velocity are sought, two-stage rockets may offer better performance