Propulsion of small launch vehicles using high power millimeter waves
- Physics International Co., San Leandro, CA (United States)
- Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst., Troy, NY (United States)
The use of microwave and millimeter wave beamed energy for propulsion of vehicles in the atmosphere and in space has been under study for at least 35 years. The need for improved propulsion technology is clear: chemical rockets orbit only a few percent of the liftoff mass at a cost of over $3,000/lb. The key advantage of the beamed power approach is to place the heavy and expensive components on the ground or in space, not in the vehicle. This paper, following upon the high power laser propulsion programs, uses a multi-cycle propulsion engine in which the first phase of ascent is based on the air breathing ramjet principle, a repetitive Pulsed Detonation Engine (PDE) which uses a microwave-supported detonation to heat the air working fluid, i.e., propellant. The second phase is a pure beam-heated rocket. The key factor is that high peak power is essential to this pulsed engine. This paper explores this propulsion concept using millimeter waves, the most advantageous part of the spectrum. The authors find that efficient system concepts can be developed for the beam powered launch system and that, while the capital cost may be as high as the earlier orbital transfer concepts, the operating cost is much lower. The vehicle can have payload-to-mass ratios on the order of one and cost (per pound to orbit) two orders of magnitudes less than for chemical rockets. This allows the weight of microwave powered vehicles to be very small, as low as {approximately}100 kg for test devices.
- OSTI ID:
- 51855
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-940142-; ISBN 0-8194-1449-2; TRN: IM9524%%324
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: OE/LASE `94: conference on optics, electro-optics, and laser applications in science and engineering, Los Angeles, CA (United States), 22-29 Jan 1994; Other Information: PBD: 1994; Related Information: Is Part Of Intense microwave pulses II. SPIE Volume 2154; Brandt, H.E. [ed.]; PB: 421 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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