Replacement of chemical rocket launchers by beamed energy propulsion

Fukunari, Masafumi; Arnault, Anthony; Yamaguchi, Toshikazu; Komurasaki, Kimiya

doi:10.1364/ao.53.000i16

Cited by 28 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…At one thousand launches, the construction cost of the beam facility becomes fully amortized. The cost reduction reached 77% in the analysis [29].…”

Section: Microwave Rocket Feasibility Studiesmentioning

confidence: 89%

Rocket Propulsion Powered Using a Gyrotron

Fukunari¹,

Komurasaki²,

Nakamura³

et al. 2017

JEPE

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This paper presents a review of a beamed energy propulsion rocket, the Microwave Rocket, which produces propulsive thrust from millimeter-wave beams transferred from the ground. The thrust is generated through millimeter-wave discharge driven in a cylindrical thruster. As a high-power millimeter-wave generator, a Gyrotron is promising as the beam source. The salient benefit of Microwave Rockets is the resultant drastic cost reduction of mass transportation into space. We have already conducted launch experiments and have achieved continuous thrust generation under multi-pulse operation. Recently, a long-distance beam transfer system has been developed. Ignition tests have been conducted. The physics of the millimeter-wave discharge remain unclear. Additional studies using experimentation and calculations must be conducted to optimize the thrust generation.

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“…At one thousand launches, the construction cost of the beam facility becomes fully amortized. The cost reduction reached 77% in the analysis [29].…”

Section: Microwave Rocket Feasibility Studiesmentioning

confidence: 89%

Rocket Propulsion Powered Using a Gyrotron

Fukunari¹,

Komurasaki²,

Nakamura³

et al. 2017

JEPE

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“…Reed valves are notoriously short-lived. However, in the Microwave Rocket application, reed valves are used only during atmospheric flight, which is less than 30 s. 10) Figure 1 shows the engine cycle and pressure distributions in the thruster with the reed valve system. The thruster tube functions as a detonation tube that has a closed end, called a thrust wall, on which a parabolic reflector is mounted.…”

Section: Pulse Detonation Engine Cycle With Reed Valvesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These reasons make the Microwave Rocket system a good candidate for enabling drastic reduction of transportation costs to space. [4][5][6][7][8][9][10] In 2004, Nakagawa et al 4) conducted single-pulse experiments using a model rocket, which had a conical nozzle and a cylindrical tube. In 2009, a multi-pulse operation was conducted by Oda et al Thrust impulse decreased at each pulse due to high temperature and low density gas remained in the thruster.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Air-Breathing System Using Reed Valve for Pulse Detonation Microwave Rocket

Fukunari

Yamaguchi

Komurasaki

et al. 2016

AEROSPACE TECHNOLOGY JAPAN

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An air-breathing system using reed valves was developed for Microwave Rocket. No stopper plate was used to avoid interference between the reed valve tip and high-power microwave beams in the thruster tube. Titanium alloy was used for the reed petal because of its high strength. The petal's width and thickness were designed to be tapered to prevent the petal from yielding, and its fundamental frequency, opening area, and the maximum stress on the petal were computed using static analysis. Estimated fundamental frequency agreed well with the measurement, though the opening area and the maximum stress were underestimated because of the inertial force. The experiment was conducted using a high-power microwave generator (gyrotron) to evaluate the air-breathing performance. In the experiment, no plastic deformation was observed on the reed petal and the partial filling rate was deduced as 0.32-0.44 for two reed valve stages (16 reed valves).

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“…A microwave propulsion system has been proposed to realize frequent and flexible launches of small satellites while reducing the launch cost through repetitive launches of inexpensive vehicles [1][2][3][4][5]. Intense microwaves are radiated from a ground-based oscillator to a thruster equipped with a parabolic mirror, and the incident beam is focused by the mirror to induce air breakdown by the strong fields in the focal region.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Asymmetric Shock Wave Generation in a Microwave Rocket Using a Magnetic Field

Takahashi

2017

J. Phys.: Conf. Ser.

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Abstract.A plasma pattern is reproduced by coupling simulations between a particle-incell with Monte Carlo collisions model and a finite-difference time-domain simulation for an electromagnetic wave propagation when an external magnetic field is applied to the breakdown volume inside a microwave-rocket nozzle. The propagation speed and energy-absorption rate of the plasma are estimated based on the breakdown simulation, and these are utilized to reproduce shock wave propagation, which provides impulsive thrust for the microwave rocket. The shock wave propagation is numerically reproduced by solving the compressible Euler equation with an energy source of the microwave heating. The shock wave is asymmetrically generated inside the nozzle when the electron cyclotron resonance region has a lateral offset, which generates lateral and angular impulses for postural control of the vehicle. It is possible to develop an integrated device to maintain beaming flight of the microwave rocket, achieving both axial thrust improvement and postural control, by controlling the spatial distribution of the external magnetic field. IntroductionIt is necessary to develop innovative launch schemes to promote utilization of small satellites because the launch timings and orbits of small satellites are restricted in conventional launch schemes when sharing a chemical rocket with a main satellite. A microwave propulsion system has been proposed to realize frequent and flexible launches of small satellites while reducing the launch cost through repetitive launches of inexpensive vehicles [1][2][3][4][5]. Intense microwaves are radiated from a ground-based oscillator to a thruster equipped with a parabolic mirror, and the incident beam is focused by the mirror to induce air breakdown by the strong fields in the focal region. A dense plasma is generated by the gas breakdown and propagates toward the nozzle exit while forming strong shock waves because the energy absorbed by the plasma is transferred to neutral particles through the collision process. The vehicle obtains an impulsive thrust from interactions between the thruster wall and the shock waves. Chemical fuel aboard the vehicle can be removed or reduced because ambient air acts as the fuel, which decreases the launch cost.Pressure dependencies of the breakdown structure and the thrust performance of a microwave rocket were assessed previously by placing a parabolic thruster in a vacuum chamber [2,3,6]. A discrete plasma was formed at atmospheric pressure because a standing wave was induced in front of the plasma due to waves reflected by the overcritical plasma. On the other hand, the breakdown pattern became diffusive at lower pressures because rapid electron diffusion smeared out the plasma pattern. The propagation speed of the ionization front was found to increase with

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Replacement of chemical rocket launchers by beamed energy propulsion

Cited by 28 publications

References 17 publications

Rocket Propulsion Powered Using a Gyrotron

Rocket Propulsion Powered Using a Gyrotron

Air-Breathing System Using Reed Valve for Pulse Detonation Microwave Rocket

Asymmetric Shock Wave Generation in a Microwave Rocket Using a Magnetic Field

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