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The Path to Mission Success: The Aerospace Role in Launch Certification
Ray Johnson
The formal launch verification that Aerospace performs for the Air Force represents a fundamental part of the flight readiness certification for each mission.
Independent launch certification is a core competency of The Aerospace Corporation. Aerospace operates as a federally funded research and development center for the United States Air Force, and as such, is directly accountable to the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) for the verification of launch readiness.
Prior to any launch, Aerospace provides a letter to SMC documenting the results of the launch-verification process and confirming the flight readiness of the launch vehicle. This letter is not just a formality, but represents the culmination of a long and rigorous assessment that draws upon the collective expertise of scientists and engineers within the program office and the engineering staff.
A Long History
The Aerospace role in independent launch-readiness verification began with the Mercury-Atlas program in 1960, shortly after the corporation was founded. The program had already suffered two failures, and a complete turnaround in reliability was required before human spaceflight could be attempted. Thanks in part to the risk-reduction techniques developed at Aerospace, the mission was ultimately a success. Similar techniques were later applied to the Gemini-Titan launch system and the Atlas space-launch vehicle.
The corporation has applied this process to the design, development, and operation of several hundred launches, including the Atlas, Delta, Inertial Upper Stage, and Titan launch system variants. The process has also been tailored to support other government and commercial launches, including the Atlas V and Delta IV launch systems being procured through the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program. It has allowed Aerospace to overcome major programmatic and technical challenges ranging from the conversion of the massive Titan II intercontinental ballistic missiles into reliable launch vehicles, to the return to expendable launch vehicle programs after the loss of the space shuttle Challenger. The contributions of the launch verification process to system reliability may be difficult to quantify; nonetheless, government launch programs that include independent design certification exhibit a tenfold reduction of risk as compared with commercial launch programs for the first three flights.
The Verification Letter
To accomplish the entire spectrum of launch-verification activities requires a cadre of engineers with expertise in a wide variety of disciplines, including system engineering, mission integration, structures and mechanics, structural dynamics, guidance and control, power and electrical systems, avionics, telemetry, safety, flight mechanics, environmental testing, computers, software, product assurance, propulsion, fluid mechanics, aerodynamics, thermal engineering, ground systems, and facilities and operations. These engineers provide valuable input through all phases of launch vehicle development and operations. This provides the basis for Aerospace's certification of each mission.
The launch-readiness verification letter that Aerospace delivers to the Air Force provides assurance that all known technical issues have been assessed and resolved and that all residual launch risks have been assessed in a satisfactory manner. Thus, the mission can proceed with an acceptable level of confidence in launch mission success.
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