AE4870A Rocket Motion Assignment 2

Unconventional Launch Systems

Due: 18 April 2023, 23:59

Delft University of Technology

Faculty of Aerospace Engineering
Space Engineering

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AE4870A Assignment 2 - Due: 18 Apr 2023, 23:59 2

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AE4870A Assignment 2 - Due: 18 Apr 2023, 23:59 3

Assignment 2: Airborne Launch

Read/consider the attached paper ’Air-Launching Earth to Orbit: Effects of Launch Conditions
and Vehicle Aerodynamics’ by Sarigul-Klijn, Sarigul-Klijn, and Noel in which several cases of airborne
launch are analysed.

(a) State the vis-viva equation, explain all the parameters and explain how you can use this
equation to calculate specific orbital energy.

(b) Using the equation recalculate the cases as given in the paper, i.e., initial velocities of Mach
0, 1, 2, and 3, and initial heights of 0, 7.5, 15 en 22.5 km, in terms of ∆V-gain with respect
to the h0 = V0 = 0 case (ground launch at rest). Obviously, this results in 16 cases, though
for the ground launch at rest there is no gain of course. The target orbit is a circular orbit at
185 km height.
hint 1: use either Matlab or Python.
hint 2: speed of sound depends on height, so does the Mach number.
hint 3: start with the differences in specific energy for the different cases with the target orbit,
and then relate that energy difference with the ground launch and as last step convert this
energy to the so-called ∆V-gain.

(c) Compare your results with the results in Figure 1A of the paper and discuss/explain the
similarities and/or differences.

(d) Do effects like atmospheric drag, gravity loss and rotation of the Earth play any role in this?
Again explain, also how big these roles are.

(e) Which case would you choose for being most realistic (feasible) and most efficient . . . and
why?

(f) Now knowing a bit more on the subject of air-launch, what do you think about Dawn
Aerospace’s idea to use a rocket plane that brings a rocket to 120 km at a speed of 2
km/s and launch from there: calculate the ∆V-gain w.r.t. conventional ground launch to the
same target orbit of 185 km height and discuss advantages and disadvantages.

(g) Which air-launch scenario do you propose (V0 , h0 ) when you want to launch a conventional one-
stage rocket into our target orbit at 185 km height. Explain your calculations and parameter
choices.
See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268564872

Air Launching Eart-to-Orbit Vehicles: Delta V gains from Launch Conditions

and Vehicle Aerodynamics

Conference Paper · January 2004

DOI: 10.2514/6.2004-872

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 JOURNAL OF SPACECRAFT AND ROCKETS
Vol. 42, No. 3, May–June 2005

Engineering Notes
ENGINEERING NOTES are short manuscripts describing new developments or important results of a preliminary nature. These Notes should not exceed 2500
words (where a figure or table counts as 200 words). Following informal review by the Editors, they may be published within a few months of the date of receipt.
Style requirements are the same as for regular contributions (see inside back cover).

Air-Launching Earth to Orbit: The orbit Vorbit and Earth rotation Vearth-rotation velocities are driven
by the satellite requirements, whereas the losses
Vdrag ,
Vgravity ,
Effects of Launch Conditions
Vsteering ,
Vatmosphere-pressure are driven by the trajectory that con-
and Vehicle Aerodynamics nects the launch point to the orbit. The carrier aircraft’s flight
velocity at separation Vcarrier-aircraft is a function of the carrier aircraft
capabilities and the release conditions. The change in velocity
Nesrin Sarigul-Klijn,∗ Marti Sarigul-Klijn,† caused by Coriolis acceleration is ignored in Eq. (1) because its
and Christopher Noel‡ magnitude is very small, less than 10 m/s. Also, winds are assumed
to be zero at all altitudes.
Downloaded by Nesrin Sarigul-Klijn on November 6, 2014 | http://arc.aiaa.org | DOI: 10.2514/1.8634

University of California, Davis, The first component Vorbit is the payload orbital velocity, and it
Davis, California 95616-5294 depends on the altitude of the perigee and apogee of the orbit. The
second component, drag losses
Vdrag are caused by friction be-
tween the launch vehicle and the atmosphere and are on the order
Introduction of 40–160 m/s for medium-sized launch vehicles such as Delta or

T HE purpose of this study is to determine the benefits of air-

launching expendable or reusable launch vehicles (LV) by us-
ing quantitative methods. Air-launch vehicles consist of at least two
Atlas rockets for a ground-launched Earth-to-orbit trajectory. Grav-
ity losses
Vgravity arise because part of the rocket engine’s energy is
wasted holding the vehicle against the pull of Earth’s gravity. They
stages, a carrier aircraft and a rocket-powered LV. The carrier air- are highly dependent on the thrust-to-weight (T/W) ratio and are on
craft can be either subsonic or supersonic capable and can even the order of 1150–1600 m/s for ground-launch vehicles. Steering
include balloons. Air launch is one of the leading concepts that can losses
Vsteering are caused by the need to steer the LV. Atmospheric
meet today’s launch requirements of both responsive and low cost. pressure losses
Vatmosphere-pressure are the difference in performance
Previous work in this area has identified nonquantitative benefits of a rocket motor in a vacuum as compared to its operation in the
and drawbacks of air-launch methods.1 In this Note, many differ- atmosphere. The best performance a rocket motor can provide is in
ent air-launch scenarios associated with different release, launch a vacuum. Rocket thrust is calculated from the momentum change
conditions, and vehicle aerodynamics are modeled and simulated of the fuel and the difference in pressure at the nozzle exit. Any am-
using trajectory optimizations. The trajectory optimization is con- bient pressure reduces the thrust of the rocket motor in the amount
ducted using POST, a numerical integration program based on the of atmospheric losses. Air launching always reduces atmospheric
three-degree-of-freedom equations of motion of a flight vehicle.2 pressure losses because ambient pressure is lower at altitude as com-
More than 160 simulations were conducted in which launch alti- pared to sea level. The Earth rotation velocity increment Vearth-rotation
tude, speed, and flight-path angle were varied, and the effect of depends on launch latitude and launch direction. Finally, the car-
adding a wing was also modeled. rier aircraft’s flight speed Vcarrier-aircraft directly reduces delta V re-
quired from the launch-vehicle’s propulsion system. However the
Velocity Budget to Reach Low Earth Orbit benefit from the carrier aircraft’s flight speed is highly dependent
Using Air Launch on both the T/W ratio at release and the flight-path angle that is
A LV must provide a change of velocity,
V or delta-V, in order the angle between the launch-vehicle velocity vector and the local
to deliver a payload to low Earth orbit (LEO). The delta V from the horizontal.
LV’s propulsion system depends on the time histories of the vacuum
thrust and the mass of the LV.
Videal from the LV’s propulsion Launch Conditions and Vehicle Aerodynamics
system must equal the
Videal required for an earth to orbit trajectory We used an existing launch vehicle, the Minotaur LV, so that we
as follows: could check our numerical results with actual flight data. With the
exception of its aerodynamic data, its characteristics are published.

Videal = Vorbit +
Vdrag +
Vgravity +
Vsteering We simulated air launching the Minotaur over a range of altitudes,
+
Vatmosphere pressure − Vearth rotation − Vcarrier-aircraft (1) launch speeds, and launch flight-path angles. The altitudes chosen
are sea level through 30,490 m at every 7620 m. The velocities are
Mach 0, 1, 2, and 3, taken at sea level. The launch velocities were
Presented as Paper 2004-872 at the AIAA 42nd Aerospace Sciences Meet-
ing, Reno, NV, 5–8 January 2004; received 27 February 2004; revision re-
pushed just beyond current state-of-the-art speed of Mach 3 in order
ceived 26 November 2004; accepted for publication 13 December 2004. to capture some of the current proposed methods of launch. The sea-
Copyright  c 2005 by the authors. Published by the American Institute of level Mach numbers are converted to equivalent velocities in the
Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc., with permission. Copies of this paper reported results. The launch flight-path angles are from horizontal
may be made for personal or internal use, on condition that the copier pay to vertical, incremented at every 30 deg. Each launch condition was
the $10.00 per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rose- simulated with and without a wing. More than 160 simulations were
wood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923; include the code 0022-4650/05 $10.00 in conducted in which launch altitude, speed, and flight-path angle
correspondence with the CCC. were varied, and the effect of adding a wing was also modeled.
∗ Professor and Leader of SpaceED, Department of Mechanical and Aero-
The Minotaur is a small 36,200-kg four-stage solid rocket that is
nautical Engineering, Space Engineering Research and Graduate Program;
[email protected]. Associate Fellow AIAA.
currently ground launched. It consists of the first two stages of the
† Lecturer, Space Engineering Research and Graduate Program, Depart- Minuteman II and the upper two stages of the Pegasus XL. The
ment of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering. Member AIAA. Minotaur was also selected in our study because its initial T/W ratio
‡ Graduate Student, Space Engineering Research and Graduate Program, was relatively high at 2.3 to 1, which is desired for an air-launch LV
Department of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering. Member AIAA. to reduce losses.
569
 570 J. SPACECRAFT, VOL. 42, NO. 3: ENGINEERING NOTES

Three methods were used in determining the accuracy and sensi- ceptable. The velocity losses compare favorably with the published
tivity of the aerodynamic data. The payload performance, payload historic values.4
sensitivity, and velocity losses are all evaluated and compared to
published values. The vehicle payload performance is evaluated Discussion of Numerical Results
by comparing two different launch simulations to the published
values. The two launches were a 400 n mile sun-synchronous or- We report the benefits of air launch in terms of change in veloc-
bit from California and a 100 n mile 28.5-deg circular orbit from ity. Delta-velocity gain
Vgain was obtained by taking the difference
Florida. Both launches give a performance measure for compari- between the delta V calculated by POST for a ground launch from
son with the simulations. The simulation payload performance was Cape Canaveral
Vground-launch to a 185-km 28.5-deg inclination cir-
very close to the published values with the percentage differences cular orbit and the delta V for an air launch
Vair-launch from the same
are at +5.6 and −0.67% respectively. The payload sensitivity was location to the same orbit. Trajectory optimization program calcu-
evaluated via varying the drag coefficients and running the POST lated that the reference ground launch orbit had a delta-V budget of
simulation to find the resulting payload. Because drag data were not 8918 m/s. The Minatour launch can place 646 kg in the orbit from
published, estimates were obtained from Datcom program.3 Payload Florida with total losses of 1534 m/s. Equation (2) compares the
only changed by ± 8% when drag coefficients were varied from 25 losses from the air launches to the ground launch. Thus, a positive
to 200%. Hence, the drag values computed by the Datcom are ac-
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Fig. 1a Delta-V gain (no wing). Fig. 1b Delta-V gain (wing for pull up).
 J. SPACECRAFT, VOL. 42, NO. 3: ENGINEERING NOTES 571

delta-V gain from air launching is an improvement as compared to trajectory. Pitching down increases the losses. A minimum flight
the ground launch: path of 30 deg above the horizontal at ignition can be used for a first
approximation to maximize
Vgain . A release attitude of less than

Vgain =
Vground launch −
Vair launch (2)
30 deg might require a wing.
In the simulation, we did not increase the size of the Minotaur’s
first-stage nozzles for higher altitude launches. The Minotaur first Wings
stage has four nozzles, each with an expansion ratio of 10 to 1. The addition of a wing has advantages and disadvantages.
Using a larger nozzle expansion ratio for the higher altitude air The advantage of a wing is the aerodynamic lift it can provide. The
launches would have resulted in an improved specific impulse. We disadvantages are the induced drag it produces and its weight. The
kept the nozzles at 10 to 1 because those are approximately the wing provides the ability to turn more efficiently, but it only provides
largest nozzles that can physically fit on the back end of the Minotaur benefits at launch when the launch angle is near the horizontal.
first stage. In addition, an idealized wing design was assumed with In an expendable launch vehicle (ELV), to maximize the effec-
a mass of 12.2 kg/m2 . Although this is a typical area weight for a tiveness of the wing it should be used only for the initial pull-up
general aviation aircraft wing, fighter and transport aircraft wings maneuver and then immediately jettisoned to reduce weight. The
weigh about four times this amount. Wing loading was assumed at wing reduces the angle of attack required to complete a pull-up ma-
a very high value of 1500 kg/m2 . In the simulation, the wing only neuver, which in turn reduces drag. Without the wing, the turn is
assists the LV in turning to the proper flight-path angle and then completed by using engine thrust while the rocket’s body briefly
is discarded. By assuming such a low weight for the wing, we are generates large amounts of drag. In an RLV, the wing can provide
assuming a somewhat “best-case” scenario for a winged launch. further benefits later in the trajectory by reducing gravity losses at
The Minatour structures were not modified. The designed struc- the expense of increased drag losses. A winged RLV can fly a lifting
tures were assumed to be capable of withstanding the forces encoun- trajectory that allows it to pitch over to the horizontal earlier.
Downloaded by Nesrin Sarigul-Klijn on November 6, 2014 | http://arc.aiaa.org | DOI: 10.2514/1.8634

tered. The assumption that the original structures are adequate is the If the carrier aircraft releases an ELV at a flight-path angle that is
simplest method and avoids a full iterative design for each of the close to the optimum shown in Fig. 1a, then the wing provides
80 air-launch points. It must be remembered that the added weight no
Vgain . If the carrier aircraft cannot pull up to the optimum
to survive certain launch conditions will reduce the performance. flight-path angle, then a wing can help. However, placing a wing-
Three parameters were identified in order to capture all variations less LV onto the optimal flight-path angle with the carrier aircraft
of the launch and release conditions. The altitude is the most recog- achieves slightly higher
Vgain as compared to a winged LV caused
nized parameter of air launch, followed by the speed of the vehicle at by eliminating the wing’s weight and drag. As always, weight is an
motor ignition, and the climb angle is the last. All three parameters aeroengineer’s enemy.
combine to yield a specific launch condition, and some corresponds
to specific release conditions. Velocity
The
Vgain results are organized into two sets of plots shown in The carrier aircraft’s flight speed Vcarrier-aircraft improves Vgain . The
Figs. 1a (no wing) and 1b (wing for pull up). Positive values on
Vgain from air launching can exceed the contribution made by the
the vertical axis indicate an improvement in
Vgain , and negative, a carrier aircraft’s flight speed or the carrier aircraft’s flight speed
reduction in performance. The horizontal axis is the LV’s flight-path might not even provide a one to one benefit toward
Vgain . The
angle at engine ignition. The LV flight-path angle at ignition will magnitude of the benefit depends on the LV’s flight-path angle at
normally be less than the carrier aircraft flight-path angle because engine start. For example, examine Fig. 1a and consider a 340-m/s
the LV engines are typically started some time after release for the (Mach 1) launch at a 60-deg flight-path angle at a sea-level altitude.
safety of the carrier aircraft. Also the LV’s altitude and airspeed Although this is an unrealistic launch condition, note that the Vgain is
will be typically less than the carrier aircraft’s. Both Figs. 1a and 1b 560 m/s. The gain comes from both the initial launch velocity (340
are based on LV flight-path angle, airspeed, and altitude at engine m/s) and a change in the losses. In this case, the high velocity near the
ignition and not on the carrier aircraft’s parameters at LV release. ground will increase drag losses, but the same conditions decrease
Also the LV’s body axis is aligned with the LV’s velocity vector at gravity and steering losses even more. On the other hand, reducing
engine start. the flight-path angle to 0 deg for the same altitude and airspeed
reduces
Vgain to 130 m/s, which is less than Vcarrier-aircraft . In this case
Altitude additional drag and steering losses overwhelm both the improvement
Several trends are readily seen on these plots. All of the plots show in gravity losses and the carrier aircraft’s flight speed contribution.
that an increase in altitude increases
Vgain . The primary reason for This example illustrates the complex interplay between the losses
the increase is the thinning atmosphere. At an altitude of 12,000 m, and the importance of launching near the optimum flight-path angle.
for example, the air density is 25% of the standard sea-level value.
The lower atmospheric density decreases the drag, while the lower Conclusions
atmospheric pressure decreases the atmospheric thrust (pressure) Based on this parametric study, the most beneficial carrier air-
losses. The greater thrust that a rocket engine provides at altitude craft launch parameters are in the following order: launch velocity,
allows the vehicle to accelerate faster, which in turn decreases the launch flight-path angle, and launch altitude. In addition, there is an
time that the vehicle is steering and fighting gravity. Hence all four optimum launch flight-path angle that maximizes the velocity ben-
major losses decreased with an air launch. There is very little im- efit from air launching. A minimum of 30 deg above the horizontal
provement above 15,240 m. can be used as a first approximation for flight-path angle at ignition
for maximum velocity benefit. Once above about 15,000 ms, added
Flight-Path Angle launch altitude had little additional benefit.
The optimum flight-path angle for best
Vgain spans a range of Although this was a comparative study involving only one launch
about ±15 deg because the curves in Figs. 1a and 1b are relatively vehicle and one reference orbit, we believe that the data presented in
flat near their peaks. Adding a wing reduces the optimum flight-path this Note can play a useful role in the future conceptual design of air-
angle for maximum
Vgain at low angles and low carrier aircraft launched expendable and reusable launch vehicles. Many questions
speeds. The optimal launch angle is different for each launch con- can be answered. For example, should an air launch occur at the
dition. The optimal flight-path angle can best be described as the service ceiling of the carrier aircraft in straight-and-level flight, or
trajectory with the least maneuvering. Pull ups and other sudden should the launch occur at a lower altitude with the carrier aircraft
maneuvers increase steering and drag losses. Air launches at a low in a zoom climb? If a zoom climb is used, when should the launch
initial flight-path angle and at a low altitude cause the LV to pull up vehicle (LV) be released, at the start of the climb or at the apogee?
in order to fly the optimum trajectory to orbit. This pull-up causes Should the LV have wings or not? Knowledge of the carrier aircraft’s
increased losses. At high altitudes, too steep of an initial flight-path capabilities together with the data in Figs. 1a and 1b can provide
angle results in the LV pitching down in order to fly the optimum preliminary answers to these and other questions.
 572 J. SPACECRAFT, VOL. 42, NO. 3: ENGINEERING NOTES

References Lab., AFRL-VA-WP-TR-1998-3009, Wright–Patterson AFB, OH, Feb.

1 Sarigul-Klijn, M., and Sarigul-Klijn, N., “A Study of Air Launch 1998.
4 Humble, R. W., Henry, G. N., and Larson, W., Space Propulsion Analysis
Methods for Reusable Launch Vehicles (RLVs),” AIAA Paper 2001-4619,
Sept. 2001. and Design, McGraw–Hill, New York, 1995.
2 “Program to Optimize Simulated Trajectories (POST), Volume I:
Formulation Manual,” NASA CR-132689, April 1975. J. Martin
3 Blake, W. B., Missile Datcom User’s Manual, U.S. Air Force Research Associate Editor
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