An ultra low cost commercial launch vehicle that you can truly afford to throw away

Abstract

Space transportation is currently a major element of cost for all space systems. For every dollar spent in manufacturing a spacecraft, somewhere between 1 and 3 dollars must be spent to launch the spacecraft into its initial operational orbit. This also makes the weight of the spacecraft a very critical cost factor because it is important to maximize the useful payload that is placed into orbit to maximize the return on the original investment. One of the major space system applications today is commercial telecommunications satellites and most communications satellites in use today still operate from geosynchronous orbit. Since most of the launch vehicles currently available (e.g., Delta, Atlas, Ariane, Long March, Titan, etc.) insert these satellites into a geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO), an apogee kick propulsion system must be included on-board the satellite to provide the additional energy required to achieve the final operational geosynchronous orbit (GEO). The satellite apogee propulsion system (APS) using propulsion technologies that are available today is a major fraction of the cargo weight carried into GTO by the current family of launch vehicles. Additional propulsion capability must also be provided by the satellite if there are significant station keeping (maintaining longitude and latitude positioning) requirements for the communication mission to provide the specified earth coverage. It seems apparent then, that tremendous