Concepts of Operations for a Reusable Launch Vehicle
Research Report
Concepts of Operations for a Reusable Launch Vehicle
Michael A. Rampino
Copyright Date: Sep. 1, 1997
Published by: Air University Press
Pages: 61
OPEN ACCESS
https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep13905
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  1. Front Matter
    Front Matter (pp. i-i)
  2. Disclaimer
    Disclaimer (pp. ii-ii)
  3. Table of Contents
    Table of Contents (pp. iii-iv)
  4. Abstract
    Abstract (pp. v-vi)
  5. About the Author
    About the Author (pp. vii-viii)
  6. Acknowledgments
    Acknowledgments (pp. ix-ix)
  7. Chapter 1 Introduction
    Chapter 1 Introduction (pp. 1-6)

    On 18 May 1996, America took another small step toward maturity as a spacefaring nation. Under the scorching sun of the New Mexico desert, an attentive media corps readied their cameras. Ground and flight crews monitored consoles and waited for the latest global positioning updates to be received and processed. At 0812:02, a small, pyramid-shaped rocket, the McDonnell Douglas Aerospace DC-XA, rose from itslaunch mount on a column of smoke and fire. Unlike today’s operational spaceships, this one landed on its feet after a 61-second flight with all its components intact. This ninth flight of the Delta Clipperexperimental rocket was...

  8. Chapter 2 RLV Concepts and Attributes
    Chapter 2 RLV Concepts and Attributes (pp. 7-18)

    In order to facilitate CONOPS development and analysis, this chapter summarizes current RLV concepts and attributes and suggests hypothetical attributes of a notional RLV for use in military applications. These notional RLV attributes are not intended to serve as the final word on RLV design, as an endorsement of any particular company’s concept, or as a recommendation regarding whether an RLV should take off or land vertically or horizontally. Describing the attributes of an RLV is simply required to provide a basis for the subsequent analysis. Before stating these attributes, this section first presents an overview of the three RLV...

  9. Chapter 3 Concepts of Operations
    Chapter 3 Concepts of Operations (pp. 19-28)

    This section presents an outline of two concepts of operations. The first concept, CONOPS A, is intended to be representative of military space plane advocates’ visions. It uses the notional RLV described in table 2. CONOPS A makes the fullest military use of the roughly one-half scale RLV to accomplish not only traditional spacelift missions but also the additional missions of returning payloads from orbit, transspace operations, reconnaissance, and strike (in and from space). The second concept, CONOPS B, is intended to represent a logical extension of the current RLV programs’ goals. It is basedon the full-scale vehicle concepts currently...

  10. Chapter 4 Analysis
    Chapter 4 Analysis (pp. 29-42)

    The criteria used to analyze the concepts of operations described in this study include capability, cost, operations efficiency and effectiveness, and politics. Capability analysis includes all the required mission areas: spacelift, reconnaissance, strike, and transspace operations. Cost analysis addresses operating base, ELV augmentation, and transspace operations costs, as well as the potential for technology maturation to reduce development costs. Operations efficiency and effectiveness analysis discusses the impact of using cryogenic propellants, deployment operations, and overall system reliability. Political analysis examines the suitability of each CONOPS in both the international and domestic environments.

    Each concept of operation was intended to satisfy...

  11. Chapter 5 Conclusions
    Chapter 5 Conclusions (pp. 43-48)

    Gen Bernard A. Schriever, commander, Western Development Division, a powerful force behind early developments in US military missile and space capabilities, was premature in predicting the importance of space battles, in a speech at San Diego, California, February 1957, although the future may prove him correct. Given the increasing importance of space support to recent battles on the land and sea, as well as in the air, his emphasis on achieving space superiority may be more appropriate today. However, it is ironic to read Lt Gen James A. Abrahamson’s words—when he was director, Strategic Defense Initiative Organization—of almost...

  12. Bibliography
    Bibliography (pp. 49-52)