Analysis of Suitability of Fixed-wing Aircraft for Launching Satellites into Low Earth Orbit

Abstract

The use of near-Earth space for scientific and commercial purposes has skyrocketed in recent years. However, progress continues to be hampered by the cost and availability of vehicles relied upon for delivering payloads to the Earth’s orbit. The Riga Technical University (Latvia), with the assistance of the Technological University in Kielce (Poland), is developing a concept of a novel payload launch system. The implications of such a system for launching payloads into low Earth orbit (LEO) are presented in the article. The system, intended for launching small spacecraft, comprises the A319 MPA transport airplane used as a platform aircraft and a three-stage payload carrier, codenamed LatLaunch. The first and second stages of the three-stage launch vehicle are unmanned winged aircraft. The third stage is a classic rocket which, once dropped from the launch platform, takes the payload to a specific height, at a given rate of speed and at a predetermined trajectory angle. The article presents the results of a study focusing on designing this system.