Technical and Economic Substantiation of the Air Launch Aerospace System Parameters

Abstract

The substantiation of the technical and economic parameters of the air launch aerospace system, which consists of a reusable unmanned aerial vehicle and integrated launch vehicle, is given. A combination of a turbofan engine and a ramjet engine is used as the unmanned aerial vehicle propulsion system. The considered vehicle is capable of delivering a payload into low-Earth orbits without the use of a spaceport. We have developed the methodology of the technical and economic substantiation of the parameters of the air launch aerospace system. The results were obtained by searching for the minimum of the objective function, which established the relationship between the technical and economic parameters of the aerospace system. For the objective function solution, the design parameters of the integrated launch vehicle and unmanned aerial vehicle were determined, as well as the limitation of the total acceleration velocity of the aerospace system. The methods used allowed us to determine the velocity constraints provided by the operation of the turbofan engine, ramjet engine, and the three solid propellant motors of integrated launch vehicle stages, as well as maximum dynamic pressure and maximum permissible temperature on the unmanned aerial vehicle surface. We determined the scheme for estimating the cost of launching the spacecraft into Earth orbit by the air launch aerospace system. The result of the substantiation is the determination of the technical and economic parameters of the integrated launch vehicle, unmanned aerial vehicle, and the aerospace system as a whole. The influence of the maximum temperature on the surface of the unmanned aerial vehicle and the specific impulse of the ramjet engine on the parameters of the aerospace system was also evaluated. The substantiation is the first step towards the creation of the Ukrainian aerospace air launch system.