Ares V SRBs could change radically

by | Nov 25, 2008 | Ares, Constellation, NASA | 2 comments

The essentials of the above solid rocket booster (SRB) design are well known as the basis for both the Ares I crew launch vehicle’s and Ares V cargo launch vehicle’s first stages (Yes NASA is now calling the Ares V SRBs its first-stage)

However, the space agency is known to be considering HTPB as an alternate fuel and filament wound casings for the segments (and this composite SRB version might be expendable) but beyond that, and a nozzle extension for Ares I’s first-stage and the oscillation issues, the SRB design seemed broadly frozen. Until now

At the back of the RFI document that can be found via this latest press release it talks about what NASA wants contractors to do regarding the SRBs, and it seems to be a bit more substantial than you might have thought

That document, with a 25 November publication date, says, “The Contractor shall propose an upgraded performance solid rocket fueled booster approach for the First Stage Element to exceed the [point of departure] requirements in Table 8.2”

Table 8.2 has a total point of departure performance figure for Ares V of 187,700kg to a 240km (149miles) orbit

Quite a substantial change to the 130,000kg to LEO goal that NASA exploration launch project office’s advanced planning manager Phil Sumrall told me about at the 3rd space exploration conference this year, which in itself was an increase on the original 2005 Exploration Systems Architecture Study’s 125,000kg target identified on page seven of its executive summary

That 187mT figure had already caught my eye, on 20 November, (other than the human rating study for the core and Earth departure stage I blogged about) when the first version of this RFI draft statement of work was published; but what also peaked my interest, and led to an email to NASA, was this earlier version of the above text:

“The Contractor shall propose an alternate solid rocket fueled booster approach for the First Stage Element”

Alternate?!

I contacted NASA about this as alternate seemed quite strong. And before I saw the new 25 November version I got this reply from NASA’s Ares V integration manager Steve Creech:

“If you’ll remember charts we’ve shown at conferences on results of lccr (lunar capability concept review) our selected pod (point of departure) vehicle used shuttle-ares 1 derived srbs. We also showed alternative option of doing new booster to get more performance. Our guidance out of lccr was to study alternative booster options until the level 2 lunar srr (next year in june of 2010) so that we had a fall-back in the event that the architecture wanted more performance. Again, I’d emphasize this is an option we are studying – we have no intention of leaving the current ares 1 derived boosters at this time.

Thanks

Steve”

UPDATE 25 November 1900h GMT: Steve Creech sent the following regarding the 20 and 25 November wording changes, “We updated [the] language to make [it] clear that we were looking for what-if options that add performance, otherwise no reason to consider [them].”

So there you have it, just a “what-if” option, unless Constellation wants a tad more perfomance anytime soon, but one that makes you wonder, how radically can an alternate SRB approach be?

About Seradata

Seradata produce the renowned Seradata database. Trusted by over 100 of the world’s leading Space organisations, Seradata is a fully queryable database used for market analysis, failure/risk assessment, spectrum analysis and space situational awareness (SSA).

For more information go to https://www.seradata.com/product/

Related Articles

Soyuz MS-23 undocks from ISS and returns to Earth

With the hatch closed at 0441 GMT on 27 September 2023, Soyuz MS-23 undocked from the Prichal module of the Read more

OSIRIS REx returns asteroid sample to Earth and prepares for its next asteroid mission

The OSIRIS-REx mission to the asteroid Bennu has returned samples to Earth, fulfilling one of its main objectives seven years Read more

Crew Dragon – NASA Crew 6 returns from the ISS to a safe splashdown (Corrected)

After a couple of days delay due to ground weather issues, Crew Dragon - NASA Crew 6 undocked with the Read more

SpaceX launches two Falcon 9 rockets: One with Crew 7 passengers for ISS and one with Starlink Group 6-11 aboard

SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon 9v1.2 FT Block 5 rocket from from Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center (just Read more

SpaceX launches first “Group 7” Starlink mission for its constellation

Launching at 0937 GMT on 22 August, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carried 21 satellites into LEO. The mission took Read more

Lockheed and Northrop receive orders for 72 more Transport Layer satellites from the SDA

The SDA announced on 21 August that it had awarded Tranche 2 contracts for 72 satellites (36 each) to Lockheed Read more

SpaceX launches 22 satellites in first of back-to-back Starlink missions

SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral, USA at 0336 GMT on 17 August. The vehicle was carrying Read more

Telesat’s Lightspeed constellation fully funded after supplier swap saves US$2 billion

Telesat's Lightspeed constellation is fully financed after the Canadian company awarded MDA with a contract to build 198 satellites; in Read more

Voyager 2 is lost…for a time

An erroneous command sent to the venerable Voyager 2 spacecraft, now at the outer reaches of the solar system, inadvertently Read more

Categories

Archives

Tags

nasaspacexecoreviewsissesaArianespacevideochina25virgin galacticfalcon 9ULAFalcon 9v1.2FT Block 5RoscosmosevaDGAspacewalkaviation weekaressoyuzIGTInternational Space StationBeidouawardsspaceBlue OriginSatellite broadcastingRocket LabStarlinkrussiamoonCargo Return VehicleboeingOneWebAirbus DSmarsblogISROresearchorionspaceshiptwojaxaimpacthyperboladelaymarsEutelsatdemocratrocketobamahypertextgoogle lunar prizelunarlaunchVegabarack obamaconstellationSEStourismnorthfiguresthales alenia spacespaceflightnode 2fundedRaymond LygoIntelsat2009Lockheed MartinExpress MD-2Atlas Vromess2Elon Muskdassault aviationaviationLucy2008wk2sstlukradiotestmissilesuborbitaldocking portexplorationAriane 5 ECAVirgin OrbitinternetChina Manned Space EngineeringAriane 5SLSsts-1222010flightspace tourismNorthrop Grummancotsnewspapermissile defensegalileospaceportExpress AMU 1Long March 4CLong March 2D/2Electronbuildspace stationaltairinternational astronautical congresssoyuz 2-1ashuttleProton MEuropean Space AgencyLauncherOneCosmosIntelsat 23scaled compositeshanleybudgetrulesnew yorkAriane 6shenzhouspace shuttleatvVietnamcongressMojaveboldenLong March 2COrbital ATKnew shepardInmarsatGuiana Space Centeriaccneslunar landerksclawsSpace Systems/LoralUK Space AgencyLong March 4BILSUS Air ForceprotonTalulah RileyApollodarpaFalcon 9v1.2 Block 5Kuaizhou 1AVega CSkylonAstriumeupicturebaseusaastronautdragonlanderfiveeventTelesatSSLElectron KSNorth KoreaAprilSNCWednesdayinterviewSea Launchfalcon50thcustomerlinkLong Marchatlantissuccessor