Launch Vehicles

The Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) program was established in 1994 with the objective to lower the costs for payload deliveries, and contribute to the commercial launch systems. [1] X-33, developed by Lockheed Martin, and X-34, developed by Orbital Sciences Corporation were part of this initial program. However, they failed to meet both the financial and performance expectations. At that time, the program’s goal was to reduce the payload costs. The cost of a pound of payload on the STS was $10,000, and the new RLV’s were supposed to be able to carry a payload at $1000 per pound. [2] The RLV’s feature of caring out more missions is the low cost aspect of the program, since the same vehicle can perform multiple trips to the LEO and back to Earth. However, a vehicle capable to return to Earth and perform multiple missions is of course more expensive to build. RLVs can feature: full reusability of one stage and partial reusability of another stage (X-33, X-34), full reusability of one stage and expendable other stages (X-38), and partial reusability of one stage. [3] The Space Shuttle has been the most distinguished RLV. Its design phase began in the Sixties and it successfully operated for about thirty years. [4] Recently SpaceX has announced the attempt to produce a new RLV. SpaceX’s RLV will display a first burning stage that will detach and return to Earth by restarting the engines and landing vertically on the launch pad, as well as a second stage that will deliver the payload, and then return for a vertical landing. [5]

Expendable launch vehicles such as Lockheed Martin‘s Atlas, Boeing’s Delta IV, or Proton have no reusable components. The Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles (EELV) program was also designed to make space launch more affordable and reliable. [6] Delta IV is the most advanced rocket developed by Boeing, with capabilities to transport one or more payloads weighting from 9,480 to 28,620 lbs to GTOs, and over 50,000 lbs to LEOs, and can also launch to polar, sun-synchronous orbits, geosynchronous and geosynchronous orbits. The cost of one Delta IV launch is between $140 million and $170 million. [7] Falcon 9 is also a low cost expendable launch vehicle designed by SpaceX, and a much more cost-effective one. The $1.6 billion contract between NASA and SpaceX covers a minimum of 12 flights to the ISS. [8] The launch vehicles developed by SpaceX seem to have increased reliability and performance, and reduced cost by a factor of ten.  Falcon 9 is estimated to cost between 54 and 59.5 million dollars per flight. [9]

The U.S. space program should probably use the EELVs during this decade, mainly because they seem more reliable, and although the RLV’s may be lower cost in the long run, for the time being using the EELVs would be more cost-effective. An excellent RLV with an outstanding performance and profitable financially is yet to be designed, and while engineers and designers work on this, it is best to rely on expendable launch vehicles

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Notes:

[1] NASA. Reusable LaunchVehicle. http://www.sti.nasa.gov/tto/spinoff1996/14.html (accessed March 29, 2012), para. 1

[2] GlobalSecurity.org. Reusable Launch Vehicle Program. http://www.globalsecurity.org/space/systems/rlv.htm (accessed March 28, 2012), para. 5-6.

[3] Federal Aviation Administration. REUSABLE LAUNCH VEHICLE PROGRAMS AND CONCEPTS. http://www.faa.gov/library/reports/commercial_space/dev_concepts/media/98rlv.pdf (accessed March 28, 2012), 1.

[4] Ibid, 6.

[5] Rosenberg, Zach. SpaceX to build reusable launch vehicle. FlightGlobal. http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/spacex-to-build-reusable-launch-vehicle-362729/ (accessed March 28, 2012), para. 2.

[6] Air Force Space Command. EVOLVED EXPENDABLE LAUNCH VEHICLE. http://www.afspc.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=3643 (accessed March 28, 2012), para. 1.

[7] Boeing. Delta IV Overview. http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/space/delta/delta4/delta4.htm (accessed March 28, 2012).

[8] SpaceX, Falcon 9 Overview, 2011. http://www.spacex.com/falcon9.php#falcon9_overview (accessed March 28, 2012).

[9] ORBCOMM, I. c., ORBCOMM and SpaceX Set Plans to Launch Satellites on Next Falcon 9 Launch. Business Wire. EBSCOhost (accessed March 28, 2012).

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 References

Air Force Space Command. EVOLVED EXPENDABLE LAUNCH VEHICLE. http://www.afspc.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=3643 (accessed March 28, 2012).

Boeing. Delta IV Overview. http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/space/delta/delta4/delta4.htm (accessed March 28, 2012).

Federal Aviation Administration. REUSABLE LAUNCH VEHICLE PROGRAMS AND CONCEPTS. http://www.faa.gov/library/reports/commercial_space/dev_concepts/media/98rlv.pdf (accessed March 28, 2012).

GlobalSecurity.org. Reusable Launch Vehicle Program. http://www.globalsecurity.org/space/systems/rlv.htm (accessed March 28, 2012).

NASA. Reusable Launch Vehicle. http://www.sti.nasa.gov/tto/spinoff1996/14.html (accessed March 29, 2012).

ORBCOMM, I. c., ORBCOMM and SpaceX Set Plans to Launch Satellites on Next Falcon 9 Launch. Business Wire. EBSCOhost (accessed March 28, 2012).