Satellite Launching

to Space
Launch Animation

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Launch Vehicles
Launch Vehicles
Not all are the same -
Expendable and Reusable
Sometimes they don’t work !
 Two Types: Launch Vehicles
 Expendable launchers are consumed during
the launch process and fall into the sea or
burn up in the atmosphere.

 Reusable launchers make a soft landing on

earth or at sea and can be refurbished for
use on a future mission.
Expendable Launchers
 Many evolved from or were
developed concurrently
with military ICBM
designs.
 Liquid fuel is most
common for main engines.
Additional solid rocket
boosters may be strapped
on for additional lifting
capacity.
 Despite more than 50 years
experience, launch failures
are very common.
Reusable Launchers
 Designed specifically for
spacecraft launch.
 Liquid fuel is used for main
engines. Additional solid
rocket boosters supply
additional lifting capacity.
 Although not frequent,
launch and recovery failures
do happen.
 Challenger
 Columbia
 Launch Vehicle Classification

 Heavy-Lift
Heavy-  Light-Medium Lift
Light-
 Lifts up to 20 tons  Lifts less than
to LEO, up to 10,,000 pounds to
10
10,,000 pounds to
10 LEO/MEO
GTO, or 4,000  Cheaper than a
pounds to GEO heavy--lift booster.
heavy
 Example: Russian  Example: Pegasus
Proton system air--launched system
air
How do you launch to orbit?
 LEO/MEO - direct
GEO
orbital insertion is
common.
GTO  GEO
LEO
 1st place in LEO
 2nd kick into a GTO
 Apogee is at GEO
 Perigee is at LEO
 3rd circularize orbit at
GEO
 Some larger launchers
can launch reduced
mass payloads directly
to GEO.
Example of Clarke Satellite Belt
Panamsat GEO Satellites
 Liquid Fuel Rocket

Nozzle Combustion Fuel Oxidizer

Ve Chamber
Thrust
Exhaust

turbopumps

 Liquid fuel and oxidizer, stored in tanks in the

rocket is pumped into a combustion chamber
where it burns.
 Hot exhaust gasses are expelled through a
movable nozzle to provide thrust.
 Typical Fuels include hydrazine, kerosene, alcohol
and liquid hydrogen, Oxidizer is typically liquid
oxygen.
XPIS - Xenon Ion Propulsion System

 Boeing 601
601HP
HP Thruster:  Boeing 702 Thruster:
13 centimeters in diameter 25 centimeters in diameter
500 Watts 4500 Watts
18 mN of thrust 165 mN of thrust
 What makes the Rocket go ?
 The Law of Conservation of Momentum is the
key to understanding a rocket.

mv  m  dmv  dv   dmv

m = Mass of Rocket
v = Velocity of Rocket
dm' = Mass of Fuel Expelled
v' = Velocity of Exhaust
 Rocket Equation
0   dmv  mdv  dmdv  dmv
v   v  ve
0   dmv  mdv  dmv  ve 
0  mdv  dmve
dm  dm
mdv   dmve
dv ve

dm m
mo
v  ve ln Rocket Equation
m
Boeing Delta Family
Delta III had some problems
 First Delta III launched
suffered from a combustion
chamber breach in the
second stage engine.
 Stranded communications
satellite in useless orbit.
 Shuttle mission may be
used to attach a booster to
the satellite and send it
looping around the moon to
return to GEO.
 Recently launched a
dummy payload to prove its
reliability.
 Delta III Launch

First stage falls away as viewed

Solid booster separation from first
from within the second stage engine
stage.
fairing.
Delta IV Heavy Launcher
 2-stage vehicle using
common booster core
and external solid
rocket Graphite-
Graphite-Epoxy
Motors (GEM’s).
 4-5 m diameter launch
fairing.
 Up to 28
28,,950 to GTO.
 Stages are restartable in
flight for more precise
payload placement.
RS--68 Main Engine
RS

 Boeing/Rocketdyne
design.
 Liquid hydrogen
fuel with LOX
oxidizer.
 Produces 650
650,,000
lbs thrust.
Delta IV Mission Profile
Lockheed Atlas V

• Lockheed’s answer
to Boeing’s Delta
series

•Heavy lift launcher –

up to 19,114 lbs to
GTO, 45,238 lbs to
LEO.
Lockheed Atlas V

•Successful first launch August 2002, placed the Hot Bird

commercial communications satellite into GEO ( 13
degrees East) for Eutelsat.
Lockheed Titan IV
 Heavy-lift vehicle.
Heavy-
 Based on Titan
ICBM, the Titan IV
was first launched in
1989..
1989
 Hybrid liquid-
liquid-
fuel/solid fuel first
stage.
 47,,800 lb to LEO,
47
12,,700 lb to GEO.
12
Ariane
 Ariane 1 first flew in
December 1979 and was
designed as a commercial
launcher.
 Ariane 1 superseded as
payload masses increased,
currently Ariane 5 is the
latest design.
 Payload capacity: GTO-
GTO-
14,,000 lb, LEO-
14 LEO- 46
46,,000 lb.
 Liquid fueled with solid 2
rocket boosters affixed to
the first stage.
Russian Proton
 Heavy lift vehicle.
 Developed in the 1960
1960’s,
’s,
has been very reliable
with over 260 missions
completed (including one
9/5/0000).
).
 3 stages to LEO, 4 to
GEO.
 46,,000 lb to LEO, 10
46 10,,868
lb to GTO, 4,630 to GEO.
 Liquid fueled engines on
all stages.
 Total liftoff weight of
1,500
500,,000 lbs.
Russian/Ukrainian Zenit
 Medium-Heavy lift
Medium-
launcher.
 Used in Sea Launch system
in addition to ground-
ground-based
launches.
 Sea--Launch uses a
Sea
converted oil drilling
platform for launching from
the equator.
 Equatorial launches get an
energy boost from the
Earth’s rotation and can
place more payload into
GEO.
 Sea Launch can place 1111,,550
to GEO.
Chinese Long March
 Different configurations
depending on user
requirements.
 Used to launch Iridium,
other satellites.
 Up to 9,900 to GTO.
 Source of much political
controversy in the US.
 $70 million launch cost.
Boeing Inertial Upper Stage
 2-stage booster used
with the Space
Shuttle and Titan IV
launchers to boost
satellites to GEO.
 Solid rocket motors
 17..5 feet long, 9.5 feet
17
dia.
 System weighs 32 32,,000
lbs.
Rotary Rocket Roton
 Manned LEO launch and
recovery capability.
 Fully reusable single
stage to orbit vehicle.
 7,000 lb per flight.
 $7,000
000,,000 per flight
($11,000 per pound).
($
 Uses kerosene and
oxygen.
 Soft landing via
autorotation and
thrusters.
 Several successful ground
launches, now canceled.
Rotary Rocket Roton
Kistler K-
K-1
 Powered by Kuznetsov
NK--33 and NK-
NK NK-43
engines left over from
the defunct Soviet N- N -1
1970’s
1970 ’s manned lunar
rocket program.
 Up to 1010,,500 lb to
LEO, depending on
inclination.
 2 stages, fully reusable,
LOX/kerosene fueled.
 841,,000 lb GTOW.
841
 NASA contract
awarded May 2001 2001..
 Major problems for satellites
 Positioning in orbit
 Stability
 Power
 Communications
 Harsh environment
 Positioning
 This can be achieved by several methods
 One method is to use small rocket motors
 These use fuel - over half of the weight of
most satellites is made up of fuel
 Often it is the fuel availability which
determines the lifetime of a satellite
 Commercial life of a satellite typically 10
10--15
years
 Stability
 It is vital that satellites are stabilised
 to ensure that solar panels are aligned properly
 to ensure that communications antennae are
aligned properly
 Early satellites used spin stabilisation
 Either this required an inefficient omni-
omni-
directional aerial
 Or antennae were precisely counter-
counter-rotated in
order to provide stable communications
 Stability (2
( 2)
 Modern satellites use reaction wheel
stabilisation - a form of gyroscopic
stabilisation Other methods of stabilisation
are also possible
 including:
 eddy current stabilisation
 (forces act on the satellite as it moves through
the earth’s magnetic field)
 Reaction wheel stabilisation
 Heavy wheels which rotate at high speed - often
in groups of 4.
 3 are orthogonal, and the 4th (spare) is a backup
at an angle to the others
 Driven by electric motors - as they speed up or
slow down the satellite rotates
 If the speed of the wheels is inappropriate,
rocket motors must be used to stabilise the
satellite - which uses fuel
 Power
 Modern satellites use a variety of power
means
 Solar panels are now quite efficient, so solar
power is used to generate electricity
 Batteries are needed as sometimes the
satellites are behind the earth - this happens
about half the time for a LEO satellite
 Nuclear power has been used - but not
recommended
 Harsh Environment
 Satellite components need to be specially
“hardened”
 Circuits which work on the ground will fail
very rapidly in space
 Temperature is also a problem - so satellites
use electric heaters to keep circuits and
other vital parts warmed up - they also need
to control the temperature carefully
 Alignment
 There are a number of components which
need alignment
 Solar panels
 Antennae

 These have to point at different parts of the

sky at different times, so the problem is not
trivial
 Antenna alignment
 A parabolic dish can be used which is
pointing in the correct general direction
 Different feeder “horns” can be used to
direct outgoing beams more precisely
 Similarly for incoming beams
 A modern satellite should be capable of at
least 50 differently directed beams
 Inter--Satellite Links
Inter
 It is also possible for satellites to
communicate with other satellites
 Communication can be by microwave or by
optical laser
 Communication Frequencies
Frequency Band (GHz)
Band Uplink Crosslink Downlink Bandwidth
====================================
C 5.9-6.4 3.7 – 4.2 0.5
X 7.9-8.4 7.25
25--7.75 0.5
Ku 14--14
14 14..5 11..7-12
11 12..2 0.5
Ka 27--30
27 17--20
17 __
30--31
30 20--21
20 __

Q ___ 40-41
40- 1.0
41--43
41 2.0
V 50--51
50 ____ ____ 1.0
(ISL) 54--58
54 3.9
59--64
59 5.0
 Early satellite communications
 Used C band in the range 3.7-4.2 GHz
 Could interfere with terrestrial
communications
 Beamwidth is narrower with higher
frequencies
 More recent communications
 Greater use made of Ku band
 Use is now being made of Ka band
 Ku band assignments

 © copyright 1996 MLE INC.

 Satellite management
 Satellites do not just “stay” in their orbits
 They are pushed around by various forces
 They require active management
Launch Animation

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