From the Editors
Launch is hard—hard on your nerves, hard to get right, hard to get out of your system. Even after decades of practice, the launch vehicle community is challenged by each new attempt to send a payload into space. This is partly because of the high performance, low margins, and numerous hazards involved, but it is also because of the low production and flight rates, which profoundly affect how launch gets done. Thus, each launch is unique, replete with its own risks and rewards.
Minimizing risk—or at least managing it—is a primary mandate, especially for launches dealing with national security space. Aerospace has applied considerable resources to understanding the sources of risk and mitigating them enough to instill confidence in mission success. Propulsion systems, for example, are responsible for most launch failures, and Aerospace has worked hard to identify potential engine hazards and establish consistent and reproducible methods of testing for them. Flight software is entrusted with the critical job of steering the rocket into space; Aerospace has developed tools to optimize launch trajectory and verify software code while enhancing the sensors that tell the vehicle where it is and where it's going. Intensive effort has also been applied to generating accurate models of the dynamic forces that threaten the vast array of critical components and structural elements.
The age of the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle has arrived; yet numerous groups in the public and private sectors are already pursuing the next big leap in launch technology. They need the services of knowledgeable and unbiased experts to help coordinate their efforts and chart the best course forward. A new mandate for NASA, for example, could profoundly affect the strategy for securing cheap, reliable, and responsive access to space for national defense initiatives. Aerospace is helping these groups strike the optimal balance between risk and return with the goal of maximizing the potential benefit for all stakeholders.
Throughout the years, Aerospace has developed new technologies and honed its engineering expertise to reflect changing mission objectives, management philosophies, and launch acquisition strategies. With an institutional memory exceeding 40 years and a growing repertoire of custom design and analysis tools, the company remains in a unique position to guide the country's space-launch initiatives well into the coming century. We hope this issue of Crosslink will provide some insight into the diverse technical challenges of spacelift and serve as a launching pad for further investigation.
