{"id":38926,"date":"2016-11-04T22:39:39","date_gmt":"2016-11-04T14:39:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/orbital-atk-reviews-srb-plans-and-competitiveness-for-sls-em-1-and-beyond\/"},"modified":"2016-11-04T22:39:39","modified_gmt":"2016-11-04T14:39:39","slug":"orbital-atk-reviews-srb-plans-and-competitiveness-for-sls-em-1-and-beyond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/orbital-atk-reviews-srb-plans-and-competitiveness-for-sls-em-1-and-beyond\/","title":{"rendered":"Orbital ATK reviews SRB plans and competitiveness for SLS EM-1 and beyond"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/b>With booster casting operations for SLS\u2019s EM-1 mission well underway at Orbital ATK\u2019s manufacturing facility in Utah, the company is looking ahead in terms of how the boosters\u2019 flight data will be transmitted to ground stations during flight.  Moreso, the company is looking beyond EM-1 to the build operations for the EM-2 flight boosters as well as how their SRBs remain competitive with Blue Origin\u2019s New Glenn and SpaceX\u2019s ITS super heavy lift rockets.<\/p>\n

Orbital ATK\u2019s SRBs \u2013 an evolving post-flight environment:<\/b><\/p>\n

A hallmark of the Shuttle program was the return to port, disassembly, and full-bodied inspection of the twin, 4 segment Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) that powered the five iconic winged vehicles through the first two minutes of their flights.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

See Also<\/h4>\n
    \n
  • SLS Forum Section<\/li>\n
  • L2 SLS Section<\/li>\n
  • L2 SRB Section<\/li>\n
  • Click here to Join L2<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Over the course of the 135 flight Shuttle program, 133 flight set SRBs were recovered for such inspection \u2013 with only the STS-4 and STS-51L SRBs being lost to parachute failures and the in-flight break up of the vehicle, respectively.<\/p>\n

    This recovery and post-flight inspection aspect to Shuttle SRBs allowed Morton Thiokol, subsequently ATK \u2013 now Orbital ATK \u2013 to ensure not only the functionality of the boosters\u2019 all important O-Ring joint seals, but also to have access to on-board recorded data of the flight performance of the boosters.<\/p>\n

    During the course of the Shuttle program, these post-flight inspections revealed issues with O-Ring seals on the STS-8\/Challenger and STS-51C\/Discovery missions, as well as a near burn-through event during the launch of Columbia on STS-78 due to a flight performance issue with a newly mandated EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) adhesive.<\/p>\n

    \"2015-10-14-163809\"But SLS will see a change to this 30 year practice, as the new 5 segment SRBs will not be recovered for post-flight disassembly and inspection.<\/p>\n

    Space Shuttle models<\/path>Astronomy<\/path>SpaceX launch tickets<\/path>\n

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    To this end, the boosters will transmit their flight data to ground receiving stations at the Cape, notes Orbital ATK in an interview with NASASpaceflight.com.<\/p>\n

    \u201cFlight data will be gathered real-time from onboard instrumentation and transmitted to ground telemetry stations,\u201d states Jeff Foote, Orbital ATK Vice President, NASA Programs.<\/p>\n

    \u201cPost-flight review timeline of telemetered data will be very similar to that of the Shuttle era, specifically the early Shuttle flights when the STS was most heavily instrumented.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Additionally, Mr. Foote noted that the data will not only be transmitted in real-time, but controllers will monitor the SRB flight data as it comes in, with detailed evaluation of the collected data following over a period of \u201cseveral weeks\u201d.<\/p>\n

    Beyond EM-1 \u2013 second SLS booster set, advanced SRBs, & competitive markets<\/b><\/p>\n

    While Morton Thiokol and ATK had a rapid pace production schedule for SRB segments during the Shuttle era, the production schedule for SLS is considerably more relaxed given the anticipated four year gap between its first flight and its second.<\/p>\n

    \"2016-08-12-013933\"Nonetheless, Orbital ATK will not wait four years to begin the casting process for the EM-2 flight set boosters.<\/p>\n

    According to Mr. Foote, \u201cFabrication is scheduled to start shortly after the EM-1 build, with the first EM-2 segment propellant cast in late Spring 2017 and the last segment cast about a year later.\u201d<\/p>\n

    In all, Orbital ATK noted that enough SRB casings exist for 18 total motors, with a tentative plan to use two motors for additional ground tests and 16 motors for the first eight flights of SLS.<\/p>\n

    Given an uncertain but anticipated one-flight-per-year mission rate for SLS beginning in 2022 or 2023, that would take the current casing inventory out to 2028 or 2029 \u2013 likely longer given programmatic delays and a growing need to more definitively define SLS\u2019s flight parameters, mission destinations, and mission objectives.<\/p>\n

    \"2015-10-14-163724\"Regardless, the Block 1 and Block 1B variants of SLS will be the vehicle configurations used by NASA for those first 8 flights of SLS. <\/p>\n

    In terms of the SRBs and the understood nature and directive from NASA to create Advanced or next-generation flight set boosters, Orbital ATK stated that \u201cThe initial Block 1 and Block 1B vehicle configurations [utilize] existing SLS SRBs [that] provide an unrivaled launch capability that will enable beyond earth orbit human exploration and deep space science missions for at least the next decade. <\/p>\n

    \u201cThe need for future vehicle upgrades will be mission based. <\/p>\n

    \u201cPrevious NASA communications regarding the need for and timing of an advanced\/upgraded booster center around SLS missions to Mars, which according to NASA documents will happen in the 2030s timeframe.\u201d<\/p>\n

    \"2015-10-14-165338\"To this end, Orbital ATK added that the company remains \u201cdedicated to serving NASA with advanced and upgraded booster options and continues to invest in preliminary development of various booster technologies.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Regardless of when NASA would ask for formal development of advanced Solid Rocket Booster technology for the eventual SLS Mars campaigns, the benefits of those advanced boosters are already well understood.<\/p>\n

    According to Mr. Foote, \u201cMore advanced SRBs are anticipated to provide more lift capability for the launch vehicle to reach space destinations. While performance (increased thrust, lower weight) is always a key metric in evaluating advanced SRBs, affordability, reliability, and common use are other key metrics that may prove to be just as important. <\/p>\n

    \u201cOrbital ATK is currently developing commercially available solid propulsion system solutions at extremely competitive price points which contain a high degree of manufacturing and design commonality with human-rated deep space exploration requirements.\u201d<\/p>\n

    \"2015-10-14-170652\"The extremely competitive price points and extreme reliability for the amount of lift capability they generate are two very important aspects to Orbital ATK\u2019s Solid Rocket Booster technology \u2013 especially given this year\u2019s formal announcements of Blue Origin\u2019s New Glenn and SpaceX\u2019s Interplanetary Transport System (ITS) super heavy-lift rockets.<\/p>\n

    While much speculation and discussion has been given to SLS\u2019s place in the changing launch market, as well as the specific role of government super heavy lift rockets versus their commercial counterparts, Orbital ATK pointed out that SLS itself will hold a unique place in the launch market.<\/p>\n

    \u201cNASA\u2019s SLS will \u2026 serve a different piece of the global launch market than SpaceX and Blue Origin and even Orbital ATK\u2019s own Antares launch vehicle,\u201d noted Mr Foote.<\/p>\n

    \"Screen\u201cThe SLS is well positioned to serve the launch market where mission success, flexibility, adaptability, and on time launch is paramount.\u201d<\/p>\n

    However, just because SLS will serve a unique niche in the super heavy lift launch market, that does not mean that NASA and Orbital ATK are complacent about the need to continuously evolve the SRB designed to suit SLS\u2019s mission specific needs<\/p>\n

    In fact, the two organizations are taking a strong approach toward evolving SRB design.<\/p>\n

    \u201cNASA\u2019s SRBs have been the benchmark of reusability since the inception of the Space Shuttle. With NASA\u2019s current predicted launch cadence, the SLS vehicle experts at NASA are evaluating the place for reusable components including upgraded\/advanced SRBs based on the economic use of reusable launch technology.\u201d<\/p>\n

    (Images: NASA, Orbital ATK, and L2 Artist Nathan Koga.  The full gallery of Nathan\u2019s (SpaceX Dragon to MCT, SLS, Commercial Crew and more) L2 images can be *found here*)<\/p>\n

    To join L2, click here: \/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/l2\/)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    With booster casting operations for SLS\u2019s EM-1 mission well underway at Orbital ATK\u2019s manufacturing facility in Utah, the company is looking ahead in terms of how the boosters\u2019 flight data will be transmitted to ground stations during flight.  Moreso, the company is looking beyond EM-1 to the build operations for the EM-2 flight boosters as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30054,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3718,4011,624,7806],"class_list":["post-38926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-em-1","tag-em-2","tag-sls","tag-srb"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38926"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38926"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38926\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}