Final Design Presentation PROJECT BELLEROPHON Final Design Presentation Greek hero who rode Pegasus HERO BELLEROPHON (buh-lair'-uh-fahn) Project Bellerophon

Design Goals Saturn V Ariane 4 Pegasus Vanguard Bellerophon ? ? ? r = 50 m 102 m ? ? ? Saturn V 118,000 kg $2.7 billion Ariane 4 5,000 kg $105 million Pegasus 375 kg $16 million Vanguard 9 kg $11 million Bellerophon 200 g, 1kg, 5kg $??? Payload: Cost: Project Bellerophon

Design Requirements Perigee of 300 km Probability of success : 90.00% ( with catastrophic failure) Perigee Probability of success : 99.86% ( without catastrophic failure) All possible propellants, material and launch methods should be considered $ Minimize Cost $ Project Bellerophon

Things We Ignored FAA Decree Physics not Politics Development costs Pre-Application Consult Environmental Review Payload Review Hazard Analysis Financial Responsibility System Failure Modes Safety Review Physics not Politics Development costs 12 launches/year Compliance Monitoring Final Approval Project Bellerophon

20,480 possible combinations for each payload! Preliminary Analysis Materials Aluminum Composite Steel Titanium Launch Methods Ground Aircraft Balloon Railgun Conventional Gun Propellants Cyrogenic LOX / LH2 H2O2 / RP-1 Storable H2O2 / HTPB Hybrid AP / Al / HTPB Solid 5,616 20,480 possible combinations for each payload! Project Bellerophon

5,616 possible combinations for each payload! Model Analysis Payload / Launch Description Staging Details • Hybrid Prop • Titanium MA - SS - DA - HT Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 • Medium Payload (1 kg) • Aircraft Launch • Solid Prop • Aluminum • Storable Prop • Steel 3 5,616 possible combinations for each payload! Project Bellerophon

Final Design Launch Vehicle Propulsion Rough Vehicle Subsystems r = 50 m Launch Vehicle Propulsion Inert Mass Rough Vehicle Subsystems Requirements Trajectory Final Vehicle Refined Vehicle Aerothermal Avionics D & C Propulsion Structures Trajectory Project Bellerophon

Designing a Trajectory Can the vehicle make it into orbit? What is the best path to take to get there? Answering these questions for all launch configurations Optimization was done by varying the orientation of the launch vehicle at the end of each stage of launch Nominal Trajectory - 1 kg Payload Project Bellerophon

Nominal Trajectory Project Bellerophon

D&C Controlled Trajectory Project Bellerophon

Vehicle ready for Monte Carlo Final Design r = 50 m Launch Vehicle Propulsion Inert Mass Rough Vehicle Subsystems Requirements Trajectory Final Vehicle Refined Vehicle Aerothermal Avionics D & C Propulsion Structures Trajectory Vehicle ready for Monte Carlo Controlled Trajectory D & C Nominal Trajectory Project Bellerophon

Accounting for Errors Monte Carlo Analysis 1kg Launch Vehicle: Perigee Altitude Histogram Standard Dev = 16 km Mean = 368 km Requirement Perigee > 300 km Perigee (km) Ideal Vehicle Manufacturing Uncertainties + = Actual Vehicle D&C Monte Carlo Simulator Computes perigee minert mprop m . Frequency Perigee (km) 10,000 Xs Project Bellerophon

1 kg Failure Low on gas Heavy Poor engine performance Project Bellerophon

Monte Carlo Trajectories Project Bellerophon

Monte Carlo Analysis Results 99.99% 100.00% Success Rate Project Bellerophon

Final Vehicle Specifics Payload Mass [kg] Vehicle GLOM [kg] V [m/s] Controlled Perigee [km] 0.2 2,580 11,900 486 1.0 1,750 9,890 367 5.0 6,290 10,150 513 Payload: 200 g Length: 10.18 m Diameter: 1.29 m Payload: 1 kg Length: 8.65 m Diameter: 1.13 m Payload: 5 kg Length: 14.25 m Diameter: 1.84 m Project Bellerophon

Tour of Vehicle 1 kg payload Helium Balloon Gondola Launch Vehicle Project Bellerophon

Tour of Vehicle 1 kg payload Stage 3 Stage 2 Stage 1 9 m Project Bellerophon

Tour of Vehicle 1 kg payload Stage 3 Nose Cone (Al / Ti) Payload (1.64% of mstage3) Propellant (AP / Al / HTPB) Spin Table 3rd Stage Nozzle mstage3 is 4% of GLOM Project Bellerophon

Tour of Vehicle 1 kg payload Stage 2 Inter-stage Skirt 2nd Stage Avionics Liquid Injection Thrust Vector Control (LITVC) Tank (H202) mstage2 is 26% of GLOM Project Bellerophon

Tour of Vehicle 1 kg payload Stage 1 Pressurant (N2) Inter-tank Coupler Oxidizer Tank (H202) Fuel Tank (HTPB) mstage1 is 70% of GLOM Project Bellerophon

Tour of Vehicle 1 kg payload Project Bellerophon

Mission Timeline 1 kg payload 2nd Stage Separation h = 257 km T+ = 320.0 s Nose Cone Jettison h = 90.00 km 3rd Stage Separation h = 381 km T+ = 515.3 s 1st Stage Separation h = 87.4 km T+ = 140.8 s Launch h = 30 km T+ = 0s 1 hr 35 min balloon ascent + 8 min 35 sec launch vehicle ascent = 1.7 hour total mission Project Bellerophon

Catastrophic Risk Historical Analysis Item Failure Rate Success Rate Stage 1 Propellants 2.08% 97.92% Stage 2 Propellants 1.44% 98.56% Stage 3 Propellants Stage / Payload Separation 0.23% 99.77% Nose Cone Jettison 0.28% 99.72% Electrical 0.43% 99.57% Avionics Total 6.16% 93.84% Project Bellerophon

Catastrophic Risk Historical Analysis Pegasus Number of Launches Success Rate for Past 10 10 60.00% 20 80.00% 30 100.00% Number of Launches Success Rate ≤ 12 60.00% ≤ 24 80.00% > 24 93.84% Project Bellerophon

Cost Model Can we use existing prices from large launch vehicles to help find ours? Payload Mass [kg] Total Vehicle Cost 0.2 $35,000 1.0 $100,000 5.0 $300,000 Project Bellerophon

Cost Model Build and launch cost includes: - Material - Engine - Handling - Labor - Propellant - Avionics - Tank - Balloon - Gondola Payload: 200 g $ 3.6 M Payload: 1 kg $ 3.2 M Payload: 5 kg $ 4.7 M Project Bellerophon

Conclusions Small launch vehicle price : $ 4M High altitude launch is a necessity Need to optimize trajectory and D&C Space grade avionics are too expensive Engines and tanks do not scale simply Prices are difficult to assess Small launch vehicle price : $ 4M Project Bellerophon

Meet the Team Project Bellerophon