Space Access 2010

Space Access '10
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Overview
Thu April 8 afternoon
Thu April 8 evening
Fri April 9 morning
Fri April 9 afternoon
Fri April 9 evening
Sat April 10 morning
Sat April 10 afternoon

Other coverage
RLV News

by Ian Kluft

These are notes I took from the presentations at the Space Access 2010 Conference in Phoenix, Arizona.

Saturday morning April 10, 2010

Leik Myrabo, RPI Laser Propulsion Laboratory

Leik Myrabo, RPI Laser Propulsion Laboratory

I missed most of this presentation while making a practice run of my presentation. See Dr Myrabo's pages at RPI and at Wikipedia.


Henry Spencer

Henry Spencer, "Realities Of Nanosat Launch: What Nanosats Are And What They Want From Launchers"

Henry promised to have his presentation in electronic form next time...

* Nanosats currently fly as secondary payloads on larger launches
* What is a Nanosat?

  • definitions vary...
  • between 1 and 10 kg, not always taken seriously
  • sometimes larger sats may be called nanosats

* CubeSats

  • originated by Prof Bob Twiggs of Stanford University
  • 10cm/4in cube
  • standardized form factor intended to expedite processing as launch slots become available
  • intent is that any available launcher can just take the next n CubeSats in line
  • in reality, this is too small for more than just a solar powered radio, which is still useful for student projects
  • an option for larger satellites is to gang together some CubeSats into one larger container
    • double CubeSat, triple CubeSat, hex CubeSat
    • Henry likes 20cm cube (8 CubeSats in a bigger cube)

* discussed some issues of launch configurations, dedicated launches
* NanoSats are not susbtantial enough to shield their electronics - weight budget will not support it - cannot be used in the Van Allen radiation belts
* weak transmitters need to be received when flying over dedicated ground station - polar orbits tend to be preferred for more coverage area over the Earth
* typically low orbits because of short missions of student projects
* orbital debris problem - big enough to cause damage, small enough to be hard to track
* NanoSat builders would prefer dedicated launches for scheduling and choice of orbit

  • more likely depend on the whims and orbit choices of a larger sat paying for the launch
  • nobody will sell you a 5kg total launch - may have to gang up many nanosats on one dedicated launch, when a dedicated launch is available

* don't think of NASA or ArianeSpace for what the paperwork should be - minimize it since these projects tend to be intolerant of so much paperwork
* many NanoSat builders assume they can use the Amateur Radio frequencies - but the FCC has final authority on launching a transmitter from the US
* FAA requires payload approval (including following FCC rules)
* especially for student projects, the container should enclose the nanosats in order to avoid finger-pointing if something goes wrong
* some enclosures use a video camera to help diagnose what happened in case of payload problems
* market size - small: student projects "tend to be poor", commercial projects at this size are few

Ben Brockert and Dave Masten, Masten Space Systems

Dave Masten, Masten Space

* started with Ben Brockert giving presentation from SpaceUp
* robust makes reusable

  • big margins - 2.0, not 1.2
  • humorous pic of Xombie with caption "tripropellant: LOX, isopropanol, molten copper" (laughter) - from LLC Level 1 first attempt, last flight on copper motors before completion of switch to aluminum
  • humorous pic of burst-test tanks with sunglasses

* "fail to be normal"

  • openness with anyone who is interested

* Xoie fire repair photos from LLC Level 2

  • thanked crew including community volunteers who helped with repairs

* "fail to be original"

  • don't re-do Apollo
  • use off-the-shelf equipment whenever possible

* comments from youtube "this has been done before" response: "yeah, but it's still awesome"
* fail early, fail often

  • old 4-engine design proved to need to be replaced with single-engine for competition
  • analysis and testing

* Dave Masten continues
* "wings just aren't useful in space"
* suborbital, reusable, vertical takeoff vertical landing vehicles
* small payloads
* engines developed internally

  • LOX/isopropyl alcohol
  • 2nd gen engine 1000lbf thrust

* videos of flight testing, including failures and successes

  • 4 engine w/ burn through
  • 1 engine tethered
  • tethered translation test
  • tethered test to fuel exhaustion
  • first test to and from the ground
  • first free flight, day before first LLC Level 1 attempt
    • "we were happy. that was a good day"
  • LLC Level 1 first attempt, last flight with copper engine
  • LLC Level 1 second attempt (aluminum engine) - won $150K
    • "slightly scary when you're in the direction it's moving"
  • static test of Xoie prior to LLC Level 2
    • "you can actually weld concrete to conrete using a rocket engine"
  • Xoie 170 second hover test - Ben and Dave took Q+A during the video
    • Q: if you didn't have GPS, could you land with the same accuracy? A: "Hell no"
    • Q: is it manual or automatic? A: it's completely automatic
  • Xoie hover test in 40mph+ winds
    • "all winds are crosswinds to a VTVL. But it doesn't matter."
    • cut through 5 inch thick concrete pad
  • Xoie first LLC L2 attempt, vehicle catches fire (followed by overnight repairs)

* lots of still photos around the shop including Xoie construction
* video of flight at FAR (Friends of Amateur Rocketry) boosted hop to 1047'
* current work

  • aeroshell on the previous Xoie structure, "Brutus" - flights up to 100,000'
  • 3000 lbf thrust engine
  • next vehicle Xogdor is a Xoie class vehicle to 100km

* making money other than prizes is the next step

  • talking with various companies, NASA CRuSR, university payloads, etc

* company is on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube

Steve Harrington, Flometrics

Steve Harrington, Flometrics

* company makes products for more industries than just rocketry
* related subjects include CFD analysis, parts for liquid fuel rockets
* rocket fuel pump with performance of a turbopump without danger of disintegration/explosion
* described a zero-G pump test
* Flometrics made a pump for Orbital Sciences upper stage rocket

(I had to interrupt the notetaking to get ready to give my presentation)

* news media video of Flometrics rocket test using BioDiesel


Ian Kluft and Bob Verish, Stratofox Aerospace Tracking Team

Ian Kluft and Bob Verish, Stratofox Aerospace Tracking Team

Since I was giving this presentation, I couldn't "take notes" like with the others. I'll post the slides this afternoon.

(Thanks to Matt Cannella of Masten Space Systems for taking photos with my camera during the presentation.)