Return Performances
For Kelly Space & Technology, finding a cheaper way to launch satellites didn’t require any new technologies--just a new combination of existing ones.
The 4-year-old aerospace firm, housed at the former Norton Air Force Base in San Bernardino, saw an opportunity to break into the multibillion-dollar market by creating a reusable launch vehicle.
And with their Eclipse Astroliner, the TRW veterans who run KST envisioned a more cost-effective way to cash in on companies’ plans to use satellites to do everything from delivering television programs to providing high-speed Internet access.
To do that, the KST team proposed a $150-million program to build a fleet of futuristic-looking aircraft that could fly 600,000 feet (nearly 115 miles) above the Earth, deploy a pair of satellites and then land safely on an airport runway. To get airborne, the planes would be towed into the sky by a modified Boeing 747. The company expects to receive a patent on its Astroliner design on May 6.
That is in sharp contrast to the rocket launchers commonly used to hurtle satellites and other payloads into orbit. But traditional rockets, such as McDonnell Douglas’ workhorse Delta II, typically cost at least $20 million to launch. The Astroliner, by contrast, would cost about $9 million per flight to operate and would not require a special launch pad.
“We moved from the ballistic missile paradigm and went to the commercial airline paradigm,” said Michael Gallo, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Kelly Space. “This is the wave of the future, and we want to be the first to get there.”
It’s too early to judge whether Gallo’s optimism is warranted, but KST’s early endorsements are certainly encouraging. NASA chief Daniel Goldin has publicly praised the company for its creativity, and Motorola has signed an $89-million contract to have KST launch up to 20 replacement satellites for Iridium, a 66-bird network that will provide global communications services beginning late next year.
KST also has had preliminary talks with Teledesic, Loral Corp., Hughes and TRW about launching their satellites, said Michael Kelly, president and chief executive of Kelly Space.
“Programs like the one at Kelly--once they start passing a few milestones and demonstrate that their system does work--will really change the launch industry,” said Chad Madden of Motorola’s satellite communications group in Chandler, Ariz.
Everything about the Astroliner is designed to keep costs low. Instead of requiring tons of heavy and expensive fuel to take off, the Astroliner would need a 1,000-foot super-strong plastic cable connecting it to a 747 for a tow, glider-style, into the air. At 20,000 feet, the Astroliner--which looks like a cross between the space shuttle and the Concorde--would start its own rocket engine and release the tow line.
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Then the Astroliner shoots up into the sky, reaching a top speed of 12,000 feet per second. At an altitude of 300,000 feet (almost 60 miles), the pilot shuts off the plane’s engines and continues coasting upward. At 400,000 feet, the nose opens up, and a pneumatic system pushes a two-satellite payload out. A pair of rocket boosters fires in succession, propelling the satellites into orbit 250 nautical miles in the sky with the help of a guidance system such as those used for satellites launched on traditional rockets.
After reaching 600,000 feet, the Astroliner turns back toward Earth. It reenters the atmosphere at a steep 60-degree angle, which slows down the craft dramatically. When it is 30,000 feet above land, the pilot activates a pair of turbo-prop engines and comes in for a landing at the leisurely speed of 70 mph, about half an hour after breaking loose from the 747.
A glider-style launch is somewhat unusual, but it was a routine fuel-saving measure used to transfer heavy cargo during World War II. In fact, all of the essential elements of the Astroliner plan--including the engines, motors, electronics, airframe components, thermal protection and guidance and flight control systems--have been used before, albeit in different ways.
“There is a big future in the coming decades for commercialization of space,” said Mark Stucky, an aerospace research pilot at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center who will conduct flight tests for KST. “There is merit in their innovative approach to solving the problem of getting satellites into space cost-effectively.”
Motorola seems to think so.
“Right now we’re looking at launch costs of $6,000 per pound, but we could get below $1,000 per pound with the Eclipse,” Madden said.
KST is planning its first flight demonstration test this summer, when a C-141 will tow an F-106 fighter plane--military stand-ins for a 747 and an Astroliner--into the sky before the F-106 releases the tow rope and flies on its own. Earlier this month, the company completed ground tests of the tow release system, and the two planes practiced flying close together without the connecting rope.
After that, Kelly Space plans to convert two retired F-106s so that they can release sounding rockets from 70,000 feet. Sounding rockets--which fall back to Earth and crash into the ocean or desert--are used to take atmospheric measurements and for military target practice. One of the F-106s will be renamed the Eclipse Sprint; the other will be outfitted with rocket engines and christened the Eclipse Express. Gallo believes KST will be launching sounding rockets by the end of the year, charging roughly half of their competitors’ prices.
That revenue would help finance the final development of the Astroliner. So far, Kelly Space has raised $15 million in cash and in-kind contributions from the company’s founders and early business partners. The firm is in the midst of its first round of private placement funding and hopes to raise $37 million from outside investors. In the next two years, the number of employees is expected to grow from 13 to 300.
The company has other, more fanciful ideas for revenue. Once the Astroliner is nearly 100 miles above Earth, it could skip off the atmosphere and travel 500 miles in about 10 minutes. Kelly said that since the plane is at zero gravity between skips, it could carry scientific experiments that require a weightless environment. Another possibility is shuttling packages from California to Japan in about an hour.
“Our goal,” Kelly said, “is to make access to space more cost-effective, cheap and reliable.”
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Tow-Hold in Space
Engineers at Kelly Space & Technology hope to begin launching satellites from its Eclipse Astroliner craft, right, in 1999. Relying on the reusable launch vehicle will cut the cost of carrying satellites into space by more than half, Kelly executives say. Here’s how it works:
The Eclipse Astroliner
1. Towed takeoff: The aerodynamic Astroliner is towed into the air like a glider behind a modified 747. A 1,000-foot, super-strong plastic cable connects them.
2. Vehicle release: At 40,000 feet, the Astroliner starts its rocket engines and drops the tow line, then gains altitude at speeds of up to 12,000 feet per second. At 400,000 feet up, the Astroliner’s nose opens and the satellite payload is released.
3. Achieving orbit: Two rocket boosters push the satellites into polar orbit 250 nautical miles (1.5 million feet) above Earth.
4. Reentry: Meanwhile, the Astroliner begins coasting back toward the ground with its engines off. The plane reenters the atmosphere at a 60-degree angle to slow down and continues gliding back to Earth. About 30,000 feet from the ground, the pilot activates the turboprop engines and brings the plane in for landing. The entire trip lasts about two hours.
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Payload Payoffs
Some of the advantages that San Bernardino-based Kelly Space & Technology cites for using its space delivery services:
* Prices at 40% to 60% of competition’s
* Launch on demand
* Pay at launch rather than advance contracting and payments
* Space-shuttle size payload bay
* Unlimited launch locations
* Minimal launch vibration and noise
* Ignition and testing of rocket engine before release
* Return of payload at any point up to its ejection
