Astrotech Research and Conventional Technology Utilization Spacecraft (ARCTUS)

Johnson, Mike; Fitts, Richard; Howe, Brock; Hall, Baron; Kutter, Bernard; Zegler, Frank; Foster, Mark A.

doi:10.2514/6.2007-6130

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Sufficient thermal control for boil-off mitigation has already been demonstrated in preliminary ground system tests. 4 With active thermal control on second-generation depots, boil-off can be reduced to zero 5 although early mission scenarios can accommodate low boil-off rates.…”

Section: Phase 3: Infrastructure Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shackleton Energy Company's Propellant Depot and Space Transportation Architecture

Keravala¹,

Tietz²,

Stone³

2013

New Space

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The aim of this article is to provide a review of the architecture and business for the first commercial propellant depots to be deployed in space within a decade. The capability to refuel spacecraft in low Earth orbit (LEO) underpins a paradigm shift that considerably decreases cost and increases the mass of spacecraft hardware possible per launch because of the reduction of onboard propellant requirements. This same refueling capability also enables repeated long-duration high-thrust missions for commerce, exploration, and security to be carried out at superior price-performance, resulting from extensive reuse of in-space vehicles and systems. Shackleton Energy Company is establishing initial propellant depots in LEO using propellants launched from Earth to commence sales and deliveries within 5 years from program start, followed by deliveries of water-derived propellants from the lunar poles within an additional 5 years. By sourcing the propellant from the Moon's lower energy gravity well, significant reductions in operating costs are possible, with additional infrastructure costs amortized over multiple sales cycles. The most readily accessible and operationally robust source of cryogenic liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen is from the craters situated at the poles of the Moon, in the original form of water ice.

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Section: Phase 3: Infrastructure Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shackleton Energy Company's Propellant Depot and Space Transportation Architecture

Keravala¹,

Tietz²,

Stone³

2013

New Space

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“…This resulted in a very poor payload to spacecraft mass ratio-only 31% of the launched mass was usable payload. While it may be possible to design a more mass efficient tanker system based on the COTS cargo vehicles, and to minimize tanker "over head" performance loss through efficient tanker design 30 or by directly integrating the fluid load into the upper stage tanks, the parasitic mass of tanker docking and transfer systems still have to be taken into consideration for any depot architecture design.…”

Section: Rendezvous Docking and Propellant Transfermentioning

confidence: 99%

Realistic Near-Term Propellant Depots: Implementation of a Critical Spacefaring Capability

Goff¹,

Zegler

Bienhoff

et al. 2009

AIAA SPACE 2009 Conference &Amp; Exposition

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Orbital cryogenic propellant depots and the ability to refuel spacecraft in orbit are critical capabilities for the expansion of human life throughout the Solar System. While depots have long been recognized as an important component of large-scale manned spaceflight efforts, questions about their technology readiness have so far prevented their implementation. Technological advancements in settled cryogenic handling, passive thermal control systems, and autonomous rendezvous and docking techniques make near-term implementation of cryogenic propellant depots significantly more realistic. Current work on flight-demonstration tools like ULA's CRYOTE testbed, and Masten Space Systems's XA-1.0 suborbital RLV provide methods for affordably retiring the remaining technical risks for cryogenic depots.Recent depot design concepts, built on high-TRL technologies and existing flight vehicle hardware, can enable easier implementation of first-generation propellant depots without requiring extensive development programs. Some concepts proposed by industry include disposable "pre-depots", single-fluid simple depots, self-deployable dual-fluid single-launch depots using existing launchers and near-term launcher upgrades, and multi-launch modular depots.These concepts, particularly the dual-fluid single-launch depot enable robust exploration and commercial transportation throughout the inner Solar System, without the need for HLVs, while providing badly-needed markets to encourage the commercial development of more affordable access to space.

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Astrotech Research and Conventional Technology Utilization Spacecraft (ARCTUS)

Cited by 2 publications

References 0 publications

Shackleton Energy Company's Propellant Depot and Space Transportation Architecture

Shackleton Energy Company's Propellant Depot and Space Transportation Architecture

Realistic Near-Term Propellant Depots: Implementation of a Critical Spacefaring Capability

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