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WO2017029566A1 - Système de lanceur réutilisable - Google Patents

Système de lanceur réutilisable Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2017029566A1
WO2017029566A1 PCT/IB2016/054390 IB2016054390W WO2017029566A1 WO 2017029566 A1 WO2017029566 A1 WO 2017029566A1 IB 2016054390 W IB2016054390 W IB 2016054390W WO 2017029566 A1 WO2017029566 A1 WO 2017029566A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
rlv
trolley
cradle
track
launch
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Ceased
Application number
PCT/IB2016/054390
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
John William Hollaway
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Individual
Original Assignee
Individual
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Individual filed Critical Individual
Priority to GB1802833.2A priority Critical patent/GB2555068B/en
Publication of WO2017029566A1 publication Critical patent/WO2017029566A1/fr
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Ceased legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B64—AIRCRAFT; AVIATION; COSMONAUTICS
    • B64G—COSMONAUTICS; VEHICLES OR EQUIPMENT THEREFOR
    • B64G1/00—Cosmonautic vehicles
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B64—AIRCRAFT; AVIATION; COSMONAUTICS
    • B64G—COSMONAUTICS; VEHICLES OR EQUIPMENT THEREFOR
    • B64G5/00—Ground equipment for vehicles, e.g. starting towers, fuelling arrangements
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B64—AIRCRAFT; AVIATION; COSMONAUTICS
    • B64F—GROUND OR AIRCRAFT-CARRIER-DECK INSTALLATIONS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR USE IN CONNECTION WITH AIRCRAFT; DESIGNING, MANUFACTURING, ASSEMBLING, CLEANING, MAINTAINING OR REPAIRING AIRCRAFT, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; HANDLING, TRANSPORTING, TESTING OR INSPECTING AIRCRAFT COMPONENTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • B64F1/00—Ground or aircraft-carrier-deck installations
    • B64F1/02—Ground or aircraft-carrier-deck installations for arresting aircraft, e.g. nets or cables
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B64—AIRCRAFT; AVIATION; COSMONAUTICS
    • B64F—GROUND OR AIRCRAFT-CARRIER-DECK INSTALLATIONS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR USE IN CONNECTION WITH AIRCRAFT; DESIGNING, MANUFACTURING, ASSEMBLING, CLEANING, MAINTAINING OR REPAIRING AIRCRAFT, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; HANDLING, TRANSPORTING, TESTING OR INSPECTING AIRCRAFT COMPONENTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • B64F1/00—Ground or aircraft-carrier-deck installations
    • B64F1/04—Ground or aircraft-carrier-deck installations for launching aircraft
    • B64F1/10—Ground or aircraft-carrier-deck installations for launching aircraft using self-propelled vehicles
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B64—AIRCRAFT; AVIATION; COSMONAUTICS
    • B64G—COSMONAUTICS; VEHICLES OR EQUIPMENT THEREFOR
    • B64G1/00—Cosmonautic vehicles
    • B64G1/002—Launch systems
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B64—AIRCRAFT; AVIATION; COSMONAUTICS
    • B64G—COSMONAUTICS; VEHICLES OR EQUIPMENT THEREFOR
    • B64G1/00—Cosmonautic vehicles
    • B64G1/002—Launch systems
    • B64G1/006—Reusable launch rockets or boosters
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B64—AIRCRAFT; AVIATION; COSMONAUTICS
    • B64G—COSMONAUTICS; VEHICLES OR EQUIPMENT THEREFOR
    • B64G1/00—Cosmonautic vehicles
    • B64G1/22—Parts of, or equipment specially adapted for fitting in or to, cosmonautic vehicles
    • B64G1/40—Arrangements or adaptations of propulsion systems
    • B64G1/4005—Air-breathing propulsion
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B64—AIRCRAFT; AVIATION; COSMONAUTICS
    • B64G—COSMONAUTICS; VEHICLES OR EQUIPMENT THEREFOR
    • B64G1/00—Cosmonautic vehicles
    • B64G1/22—Parts of, or equipment specially adapted for fitting in or to, cosmonautic vehicles
    • B64G1/40—Arrangements or adaptations of propulsion systems
    • B64G1/403—Solid propellant rocket engines
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B64—AIRCRAFT; AVIATION; COSMONAUTICS
    • B64G—COSMONAUTICS; VEHICLES OR EQUIPMENT THEREFOR
    • B64G1/00—Cosmonautic vehicles
    • B64G1/22—Parts of, or equipment specially adapted for fitting in or to, cosmonautic vehicles
    • B64G1/62—Systems for re-entry into the earth's atmosphere; Retarding or landing devices
    • B64G1/623—Retarding devices, e.g. retrorockets
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F02—COMBUSTION ENGINES; HOT-GAS OR COMBUSTION-PRODUCT ENGINE PLANTS
    • F02K—JET-PROPULSION PLANTS
    • F02K7/00—Plants in which the working fluid is used in a jet only, i.e. the plants not having a turbine or other engine driving a compressor or a ducted fan; Control thereof
    • F02K7/10—Plants in which the working fluid is used in a jet only, i.e. the plants not having a turbine or other engine driving a compressor or a ducted fan; Control thereof characterised by having ram-action compression, i.e. aero-thermo-dynamic-ducts or ram-jet engines

Definitions

  • Such rockets are dinosaurs - big and ill equipped for a changing environment. In their case it is the payload that has changed; the great majority are used for launching satellites, but the remorseless shrinking of electronics has meant that the average satellite is a fraction of the weight of ten years ago. So payloads now have to be consolidated to be economic, which is inconvenient when the satellites comprising them have to be distributed around the planet.
  • Rockets are also prone to disaster.
  • the Economist July 4th 2015 'Coaxing what is, in essence, a flimsily built flying bomb into orbit without mishap is a difficult task, and most types of rocket in use have suffered at least one accident.'
  • RLV re-usable launch vehicle
  • a launch track from 10 to 40km, typically from 15 to 30 km, preferably about 20km in length;
  • RLV located on the cradle a RLV in the form of a space-plane capable of carrying a payload comprising rocket having a solid fuel main motor, two delta-shaped wings, and a ramjet under each delta-shaped wing;
  • the trolley is arranged to be accelerated down the track until the ramjets are activated and generate enough force to lift the RLV off the cradle and launch it to ultimately achieve earth orbit.
  • the launch track may be a railway track with an electrified rail which drives the motor of a trolley, or the trolley may be propelled by an internal combustion engine or a magnetically levitated ground transportation system using a linear motor (the Maglev system).
  • the trolley is accelerated to 350 to 450 km/h, typically about 400km/hr, when lift-off occurs.
  • the ramjets accelerate the RLV up to about 100,000ft and about ach 5 or other combination of speed and altitude at which their thrust ceases to accelerate the vehicle.
  • the ramjets are discarded and parachuted down to the sea or earth, whence they can be collected and reused.
  • the solid fuel motor starts and carries the RLV and its payload into earth orbit
  • the RLV has a homing device and the cradle has a transmitter and guidance system for guiding the RLV to the a cradle on the trolley, and the trolley in turn is receiving signals from the incoming rocket and accelerates down the track to match its speed.
  • RLV re-usable launch vehicle
  • the RLV also comprises means for securing it to a trolley with an activation system for releasing the RLV, such as electromagnets.
  • the RLV has a homing device and guidance system for guiding the RLV to the trolley.
  • Figure 1 is an illustration of the re-useable launch vehicle system and method of the present invention.
  • Figure 2 is a cross-section of a ramjet engine for a re-useable launch vehicle of the present invention.
  • the present invention is a small, simple reusable launch vehicle (RLV) that uses existing technology and systems. It will enable the insertion of a half- ton payload into low earth orbit (LEO) to be achieved for about $3,000 a kilogram, which is approximately half of the lowest current price. It achieves this by using the oxygen in the atmosphere to burn the fuel needed to carry the vehicle up to about 30km at Mach 5, and a solid fuel motor to carry it to LEO thereafter.
  • RLV small, simple reusable launch vehicle
  • LEO low earth orbit
  • a solid fuel main motor plus cold gas or hydrazine thrusters such as those used by Orbital ATK on their Pegasus vehicle, to take the vehicle to LEO and to position it for the insertion of the payload
  • a RLV in the form of a delta-winged space- plane 10 is mounted on a trolley 12 located on an electrically powered track 14.
  • a ramjet 16 mounted on each wing of the space- plane is a ramjet 16.
  • Each ramjet 16 has a casing 18 housing an inlet 20, compression section 22, fuel injection section 24, a flame holder 26, a combustion chamber 28, a nozzle 30 and an exhaust 32.
  • the present invention achieves its remarkable economics by using an air- breathing ramjet 16 to lift the vehicle through the atmosphere.
  • This is a propulsion device that is a just a tube - a 'flying stovepipe' is one description - with a constriction near the front and fuel burners behind it. It has no moving parts except for a fuel pump, and relies on its forward velocity to compress air at the constriction so that the heat from the burners causes it to expand and drive it forward. The flames are stopped from blowing out by the flame holder - a screen of white-hot bars.
  • the space-plane can achieve very high speeds - Martin Marietta's prototype ASALM missile inadvertently achieved Mach 5.5 in 1980 at 40,000 feet when its throttle stuck. It is probable that a ramjet will still be delivering thrust at well over 100,000 feet (30km). So a ramjet would be good for carrying a rocket up to the limits of the atmosphere. However, it cannot start working until it is thrusting through the air at a high enough speed to achieve sufficient air compression. Thereafter it accelerates to a speed dictated almost entirely by the rate at which its fuel is supplied. But first it has to get it to that point of self-sustainability. This speed depends on what thrust is initially required.
  • Bomarc was a ground-to-air interceptor developed in the period when conventional aircraft carrying atomic bombs were the threat, not ICBMs. This used a rocket motor to blast off vertically and switched to a couple of ramjets once it was travelling at supersonic speed. However, these ramjets had to drive the rocket nearly vertically up through the atmosphere, requiring a great deal of thrust, hence the high (Mach 1) speed at which they fired up. If the vehicle had proper wings (the Bomarc had stubby ones) then the thrust needed would be much less, as the lift they provide would substitute for much of the power required.
  • the space-plane has wings that resemble those of the space shuttle, and these aerofoils will generate lift at a relatively low speed on take-off, requiring in turn relatively little initial thrust from the ramjets underneath them.
  • the speed needed for this will be probably between 200 and 400 km/hr (125 to 250 mph).
  • the speed is achieved on the track 14, which is of conventional design with welded rails and concrete ties.
  • the length of the track for will be about 20 kilometres (12 miles), of which only a few kilometres will be needed for takeoff.
  • the trolley is powered by electricity, specifically a linear motor of the sort that is now in use in numerous suburban rail services.
  • the 'Air Train' from JFK to NY is an example. Its advantage is that it can regulate the speed of the trolley very precisely, which will be necessary for the landing of the vehicle.
  • the aerofoil effect of the wings will start to make the vehicle try to lift upwards from its carrier, but it will be secured by strong electromagnets which will not be released until the ramjets deliver thrust to the vehicle, as shown by strain gauges mounted on them. Then the electromagnets are switched off and the vehicle lifts away from its trolley. Once a ramjet is working, it feeds on itself as it were, going faster and faster as the air compression increases in the combustion chamber with a corresponding increase in the intensity of combustion. Consequently the RLV will accelerate heavenwards, booming through the sound barrier a few seconds later. In a very short time - under two minutes - it will have reached the point where the atmosphere is too thin to support ramjet combustion even at Mach 5 or more.
  • the ramjets carry the space-plane 10 about 30km at about 5000 km/h. Once the ramjets flame out they are dropped off and parachuted back, 16A and 16B, into the sea, as was done with the solid fuel rocket stages on the space shuttle. As the ramjets are both strong and simple they can be recovered and re-used. Now a solid fuel motor that takes up most of the body of the rocket fires up, and it accelerates the rocket to LEO altitude, between 240 and 320 kilometres (150 and 200 miles) above the earth at a speed of 28,000 to 30,000 kilometres/hour ( 17,500 to 18,500 mph).
  • hydrazine or cold gas thrusters on the rocket are used to position the vehicle at the point where its payload 34 can be placed in its correct orbit.
  • the thrusters operate again to direct the vehicle back down and to slow it.
  • the space-plane glides back to the trolley which is moving at about 200 km/h, and land on the trolley using a variant of the aircraft instrument landing systems (ILS) that have been in service since the 1960s.
  • ILS aircraft instrument landing systems
  • the key difference is that the trolley adjusts its speed precisely to the arriving vehicle (hence the variable frequency linear motor driving it).
  • the homing beam sent out by the trolley guides the vehicle down, while a transmission from the vehicle enables the trolley to precisely match its speed, possibly using the proportional navigation technology used by many missile guidance systems.
  • the electromagnets lock the vehicle in place.
  • Tractive Effort For the launch, would be about 10kN, briefly requiring up to 10MW of power. (The actual energy requirement for the launch will be of the order of 400kWh). Since it will be critical that there is an uninterruptible power supply - particularly during landing - it is likely that this would be sourced from a solar array via banks of lithium-ion batteries. This arrangement, while expensive, would provide all the power needs of the project, and would eventually be transferred to serve the permanent launch/landing site.
  • the trolley would be about 40 metres long, riding on two sprung bogies which would enable it to traverse the curve from the service area (for safety reasons the service area will not be in line with the launch track).
  • the motors and control gear would have an outline no higher than the wheels in order to achieve a trolley profile that causes minimum turbulence at high speed.
  • the RLV would rest in a matching channel along the top of the trolley, secured by electromagnets. 6.
  • the power requirement for the ramjets has been estimated as a total of 10kN at 25,000 feet. Preliminary estimates for the solid fuel motor indicate a fuel mass of about 23 tons, a diameter of about 1.5m and a length of about 12m.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Aviation & Aerospace Engineering (AREA)
  • Remote Sensing (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Astronomy & Astrophysics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Automatic Assembly (AREA)
  • Control Of Position, Course, Altitude, Or Attitude Of Moving Bodies (AREA)

Abstract

La présente invention concerne un système de lanceur réutilisable (RLV) (10) et un procédé comprenant une piste de lancement (14), ainsi qu'un chariot (12) comprenant des moyens de propulsion et un berceau, le RLV (10) étant situé sur le berceau. Le RLV est un avion spatial capable de transporter une charge utile comprenant une fusée présentant un moteur principal à poudre, deux ailes en forme de delta, et un statoréacteur sous chaque aile en forme de delta. Le chariot (12) est agencé de manière à être accéléré sur la piste (14) jusqu'à ce que les statoréacteurs soient activés et génèrent une force suffisante pour soulever le RLV (10) hors du berceau et le lancer pour finalement atteindre une orbite circumterrestre.
PCT/IB2016/054390 2015-08-19 2016-07-22 Système de lanceur réutilisable Ceased WO2017029566A1 (fr)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB1802833.2A GB2555068B (en) 2015-08-19 2016-07-22 Re-usable launch system and vehicle

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
ZW1715 2015-08-19
ZW0017/15 2015-08-19

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO2017029566A1 true WO2017029566A1 (fr) 2017-02-23

Family

ID=58052090

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/IB2016/054390 Ceased WO2017029566A1 (fr) 2015-08-19 2016-07-22 Système de lanceur réutilisable

Country Status (2)

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GB (1) GB2555068B (fr)
WO (1) WO2017029566A1 (fr)

Cited By (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN108773497A (zh) * 2018-05-18 2018-11-09 中国人民解放军空军南京航空四站装备修理厂 肼类燃料内场保障移动拖车
CN110489781A (zh) * 2019-07-03 2019-11-22 上海卫星工程研究所 基于行星借力的水星交会脉冲轨道优化设计方法
CN111238306A (zh) * 2020-01-14 2020-06-05 李新亚 运载火箭以较大初速离地升空的方法
FR3091265A1 (fr) * 2019-01-02 2020-07-03 Francois MASSIAS Plateforme d’appontage, de catapultage et de stabilisation (pfacs) de drones aeriens modifies
CN113120250A (zh) * 2021-04-27 2021-07-16 成都飞机工业（集团）有限责任公司 一种零长发射无人机发射参数的快速选取方法
CN113758383A (zh) * 2021-08-17 2021-12-07 航天科工火箭技术有限公司 一种用于验证垂直起降技术的可重复使用火箭及验证方法

Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4709883A (en) * 1985-04-22 1987-12-01 Giuliani Robert L Launch and ascent system
DE3844582A1 (de) * 1988-02-16 1990-01-04 Friedhelm Bier Startvorrichtung fuer raumfaehren
US20090134274A1 (en) * 2005-10-12 2009-05-28 Central Japan Railway Company Accelerating device
US20110042521A1 (en) * 2008-11-18 2011-02-24 Sample Daniel S Spacecraft Launch and Exploration System
AU2012101948A4 (en) * 2012-06-26 2016-01-07 John Scott A method of launching an object

Patent Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4709883A (en) * 1985-04-22 1987-12-01 Giuliani Robert L Launch and ascent system
DE3844582A1 (de) * 1988-02-16 1990-01-04 Friedhelm Bier Startvorrichtung fuer raumfaehren
US20090134274A1 (en) * 2005-10-12 2009-05-28 Central Japan Railway Company Accelerating device
US20110042521A1 (en) * 2008-11-18 2011-02-24 Sample Daniel S Spacecraft Launch and Exploration System
AU2012101948A4 (en) * 2012-06-26 2016-01-07 John Scott A method of launching an object

Cited By (10)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN108773497A (zh) * 2018-05-18 2018-11-09 中国人民解放军空军南京航空四站装备修理厂 肼类燃料内场保障移动拖车
CN108773497B (zh) * 2018-05-18 2023-09-19 中国人民解放军空军南京航空四站装备修理厂 肼类燃料内场保障移动拖车
FR3091265A1 (fr) * 2019-01-02 2020-07-03 Francois MASSIAS Plateforme d’appontage, de catapultage et de stabilisation (pfacs) de drones aeriens modifies
CN110489781A (zh) * 2019-07-03 2019-11-22 上海卫星工程研究所 基于行星借力的水星交会脉冲轨道优化设计方法
CN110489781B (zh) * 2019-07-03 2022-12-13 上海卫星工程研究所 基于行星借力的水星交会脉冲轨道优化设计方法
CN111238306A (zh) * 2020-01-14 2020-06-05 李新亚 运载火箭以较大初速离地升空的方法
CN113120250A (zh) * 2021-04-27 2021-07-16 成都飞机工业（集团）有限责任公司 一种零长发射无人机发射参数的快速选取方法
CN113120250B (zh) * 2021-04-27 2022-04-08 成都飞机工业（集团）有限责任公司 一种零长发射无人机发射参数的快速选取方法
CN113758383A (zh) * 2021-08-17 2021-12-07 航天科工火箭技术有限公司 一种用于验证垂直起降技术的可重复使用火箭及验证方法
CN113758383B (zh) * 2021-08-17 2023-03-03 航天科工火箭技术有限公司 一种用于验证垂直起降技术的可重复使用火箭及验证方法

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
GB2555068B (en) 2018-10-10
GB2555068A (en) 2018-04-18
GB201802833D0 (en) 2018-04-11

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