[Via Satellite 04-25-2014] In a move to capitalize on the ever-growing CubeSat market, Aerojet Rocketdyne<\/b> has begun testing three different propulsion systems using 3-D printed designs. The decision to bolster the company\u2019s smallsat project stemmed from a contract with NASA<\/b>\u2019s Flight Opportunities Program Office at Armstrong Flight Test Center in California. Under this contract, Aerojet was to build a CubeSat propulsion system that runs on hydrazine, the chemical fuel commonly used by larger satellites for orbit raising and other spacecraft maneuvers.<\/p>\n
\u201cCubeSats are currently short-lived devices; our goal is to try to increase the lifespan of CubeSats by adding propulsion for drag make-up and for deorbit. That gives you the ability to do a longer mission and get more value out of your CubeSat,\u201d Christian Carpenter, program manager for space advanced programs at Aerojet Rocketdyne, told Via Satellite<\/i>.<\/p>\n
The first phase of the contract involves hot-fire tests of the propulsion system. If successful, this could lead to a flight demonstration. Aerojet is using 3-D printing to quickly adapt the findings from the hydrazine system for a green alternative and a cold gas design. The green propellant is the same non-toxic fuel made to power NASA\u2019s Green Propellant Infusion Mission that Ball Aerospace<\/b> is working on. The Computer Aided Design (CAD) process allows for changes to be made quickly and reduces the company\u2019s lead-time by 50 percent or more.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can make things fast, cheaper, and perhaps most importantly, we can adapt better,\u201d explained Carpenter. \u201cWe can take a design that has been created for the hydrazine system, change the CAD model, and then we can get parts made for our green propellant system with very little impact to cost or schedule. If we had machined this out of titanium through subtractive manufacturing, which is our typical approach, it probably would have cost about 50 percent more.\u201d<\/p>\n
The use of 3-D printing is part of Aerojet\u2019s strategy to keep the cost at a level the market will bear, as the value in CubeSats comes from their inexpensive production and launch. The project is currently limited in funding and tied closely to the decision NASA makes regarding its use. Still, Carpenter believes there is sufficient demand from the commercial sector to justify the investment.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are finding that a lot of CubeSat users want to go to different locations, so the propulsion allows you to get to the mission orbit that you really want,\u201d he said. \u201cIt might be an orbit beyond the deorbit requirement. If they can\u2019t deorbit within 25 years, then they can\u2019t fly. This would allow them to go up to that orbit, do a mission and then come back down and meet that requirement.\u201d<\/p>\n
CubeSats equipped with hydrazine are not allowed inside the International Space Station (ISS), a popular location for deployments. The green propellant, AF-M315E, is also banned from the station because it is still a fuel, which presents the risk of leaks. Cold gas, in contrast is allowed, and tests have even been conducted with it on the ISS.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight now the CubeSat cannot go through the ISS with hydrazine on it, [but] that doesn\u2019t mean it can\u2019t launch on the space station, it just means that it can\u2019t go through the vehicle,\u201d Carpenter said. \u201cThere would be ways to take the CubeSat up to station, and then eject it without taking it on the ISS. It depends on which way you go.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aerojet, however, is looking into accessing the space station. In order to get approval, the company will have to prove that it is without a doubt safe to astronauts, as well as to the multi-billion dollar laboratory.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is not a lot of fuel on the spacecraft, so we are going to be discussing as we go forward if there is an amount that is acceptable,\u201d said Carpenter. \u201cRight now the answer is, \u2018No you can\u2019t,\u2019 but we believe there is a path to doing that in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Carpenter, these CubeSat propulsion systems can add years of life extension to CubeSats, which may enable them to perform a greater array of commercial tasks. Small satellites are expected to grow in popularity, which could prove to be a boon for Aerojet if its propulsion systems take off. The company expects to have the first systems flying in 2015 or 2016.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter this program, we have to go through a qualification activity and build a flight unit. We are very close,\u201d said Carpenter. \u201cAll of this can be done in about a year\u2019s time. We believe we can be flying in one to two years. On the green system, we see that lagging behind hydrazine by one to two years.\u201d<\/p>\n
But if NASA\u2019s enthusiasm for the program dwindles, this could affect its fate. While the cold gas design is commercially driven, the other chemical systems are more closely tied to the space agency\u2019s contracting decisions. In addition, the green propellant requires some external structure changes to accommodate a different engine. For now Aerojet will continue to develop the systems and look to gauge what the industry and the agency expect.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe CubeSat market appears to be headed more toward a typical commercial product where people are looking to buy something that is already qualified \u2026 we are currently trying to understand if there are companies interested in doing the qualification or if the market is only going to bear something that is already qualified. Based on that, we will find out,\u201d Carpenter said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[Via Satellite 04-25-2014] In a move to capitalize on the ever-growing CubeSat market, Aerojet Rocketdyne has begun testing three different propulsion systems using 3-D printed designs. The decision to bolster the company\u2019s smallsat project stemmed from a contract with NASA\u2019s Flight Opportunities Program Office at Armstrong Flight Test Center in California. Under this contract, Aerojet […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":77710,"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":[],"class_list":["post-77709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77709"}],"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=77709"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77709\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}