Headlines

Successful Launch for GPS

The Global Positioning System (GPS) grew more robust with the successful launch of GPS IIR-13 on November 6, 2004. The launch from Cape Canaveral marked the 61st consecutive success for the Delta II rocket. The satellite will replace an aging unit that has been in orbit since 1991. The addition of GPS IIR-13 brings the constellation up to 30 satellites.

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The Aerospace Eastern Range Directorate participated in vehicle operations, said Bob Fillers, Principal Director for Medium Launch Vehicle Verification. These efforts included electrical, mechanical, and propulsion systems; ground equipment; and facilities. Aerospace reviewed testing and processing procedures and monitored critical vehicle processing from receiving, storage, and vehicle assembly through vehicle erection and spacecraft mating through subsystem and system-level checkout, integration, and testing on the pad. Aerospace also reviewed launch-day documentation, Fillers said, including the countdown manual, launch constraints document, and contingency plans. Aerospace participated in readiness evaluations and tests, walk-down inspections, and mission dress rehearsals.

The launch of the Delta II was delayed several times, first because of four hurricanes, Charley, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne. Another delay was incurred to exchange the battery on the third stage. Aerospace played a role in assessing damage from the hurricanes by reviewing nondestructive test results and participating in inspections after the storms, said Dan Marten, Senior Project Leader, Medium Launch Vehicle Verification. Aerospace pointed out that the third stage battery had not been qualified for the length of time it had been installed on the vehicle, Marten said, which prompted Boeing to exchange the battery for a new one.

Several more GPS launches are planned for this year, including the first launch of the GPS IIR-M, which will carry a more powerful dedicated military signal.

Critical Milestone for EELV

The Air Force's Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program closed out the year with a demonstration flight of the Delta IV Heavy launch vehicle from Cape Canaveral on December 21, 2004. This vehicle uses an unprecedented combination of three cryogenically fueled core rockets strapped together, two of which are jettisoned during ascent. The flight had been delayed three times because of weather and technical glitches.

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A planned two-month postflight review of the Delta IV Heavy demonstration mission is under way, said Ken Holden, General Manager, Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles. Preliminary assessments continue to indicate that this mission successfully demonstrated the capability of the Delta IV Heavy ground and flight systems, he said. Significant test objectives were met, including: activating and employing the heavy version of the Delta IV launch pad; flying three common booster cores; separating the two strap-on common booster cores from the center booster core; flying the first 5-meter diameter payload fairing and separating it from the vehicle; flying the first 5-meter diameter cryogenic upper stage; flying the new upper stage through a long duration, 3-burn profile of its engine; and separating the primary payload.

While successfully meeting these test objectives, the Delta IV did not perform exactly as expected. The first-stage burn ended prematurely, so the first and second burns of the second stage were lengthened to compensate. As a result, the rocket ran out of liquid oxygen propellant during its final burn prior to reaching its intended orbit. The inert, demonstration payload (Demosat) was deployed in an elliptical orbit rather than the desired circular orbit just above geosynchronous altitude. Aerospace is actively engaged in the anomaly investigation to support implementation of corrective actions before the DSP launch aboard a Delta IV Heavy later in 2005, Holden said.

Designed to replace the Titan IVB, the Delta IV Heavy can generate enough thrust to heave 21,890 kilograms of payload into low Earth orbit and 12,750 kilograms to geosynchronous transfer orbits. The last Titan IVB is expected to launch in the summer of 2005.

Aerospace to Support Space Exploration

NASA's Exploration Mission Directorate has awarded Aerospace a grant to develop new approaches and tools to design and assess space exploration campaigns. Matthew Marshall of Civil and Commercial Operations and Patrick Smith, Principal Director of Risk Assessment and Management, submitted the proposal in response to a broad NASA announcement to develop partnerships to help accomplish its new Vision for Space Exploration.

Of the nearly 4000 submissions received, NASA funded only 70 and described the Aerospace proposal as "among the best received." The proposal, "Campaign Methodologies for Exploration-Driven System-of-Systems Architectures," will share a pool of more than $1 billion through fiscal year 2009 to support research and technologies that will enable human and robotic exploration beyond low Earth orbit.

"Aerospace will develop multimission and multidecade space exploration campaigns that will have built-in flexibility to respond to changing objectives, policies, or discoveries," said Marshall. "Exploration campaigns that extend over multiple launch opportunities and exploit both robotic and human exploration will make use of both infrastructure and campaign-specific elements developed in this research," he said. "This effort will pave the way for the development of future exploration systems."

Aerospace will also coordinate the activities of a team from industry, academia, and research organizations. Smith will lead Aerospace contributions in the areas of availability analysis and probabilistic risk assessment. Other members of the team include Axiomatic Design Solutions, Inc., University of Michigan, and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Johnson Space Center.

Marshall plans to apply tools that Aerospace has already developed for assessing military campaigns. He said his key technology challenge will be developing a flexible software toolkit to visualize and create a campaign decision tree that flows down from campaign objectives and decision criteria based on design optimization and visualization.

The tools, concepts, and strategies developed from this research promise huge benefits for the design and deployment of future exploration systems. For example, the system-of-systems architecture promises to integrate diverse projects into responsive enterprises capable of both exploiting new research and weathering occasional failures and changing priorities. Similarly, the generalized availability program will be indispensable for determining the optimal mix of redundant assets and resupply schedules for human and robotic exploration campaigns.

New Institute to Focus on National Security Space

The Air Force Space Command recently established the National Security Space Institute (NSSI) to provide specialized space education and training to space staff members and planners. The institute, which evolved from the Space Operations School previously managed by the Space Warfare Center in Colorado Springs, was inaugurated in October 2004. The goal is to develop a cadre of space professionals who can manage and maintain space systems, draft and prioritize warfare requirements for future systems, and acquire and operate systems based on strategic and tactical needs.

Aerospace, through its corporate university, The Aerospace Institute, will support NSSI as it develops and expands its curriculum. Aerospace will help ensure that course content is rigorous, structured, technically correct, and representative of current and future systems.

Aerospace will provide recommendations for the overall NSSI curriculum and assess the technical content of individual courses. Aerospace personnel will also assist with course development.

With its experience in space-professional education, Aerospace is in a unique position to recommend curriculum improvements and course enhancements. The Aerospace Institute will also encourage government and military personnel to participate in education and training originally developed for the Aerospace technical staff.

"We hope to leverage our experience in developing and teaching courses in space systems architecting and engineering to the needs of the NSSI," said Dave Evans, Executive Director of The Aerospace Institute. "We have acquired some valuable lessons about space education and training that can enhance the effectiveness of the NSSI."

NSSI expects roughly 2500 students annually. Nearly 60 percent will come from the Air Force; the remainder will come from other military branches and from agencies such as the National Reconnaissance Office.

Hubble Review

After announcing in January 2004 that it would not use the space shuttle to service the ailing Hubble Space Telescope, NASA asked Aerospace to develop and examine a wide range of servicing alternatives. NASA had developed a concept for robotic servicing.

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The Aerospace study sought to provide a nonadvocate assessment, and a team of more than 50 members of the technical staff worked through the summer to prepare an analysis. The team regularly consulted with the Hubble program office and the space science community to understand the implications of various capabilities to science needs.

Dave Bearden, a colead of the Aerospace study, presented the findings to NASA, including the Associate Administrators for Exploration Systems and Science. The National Academy of Sciences, which had also been asked by NASA to look at servicing alternatives, requested a presentation of the Aerospace study as part of its fact-finding efforts. Although the complete Aerospace report is only available to NASA, the National Academy of Sciences posted Aerospace's summary charts on its Web site.

NASA's Associate Administrator for Exploration Systems, Admiral Craig Steidle (ret.), sent a letter thanking Aerospace for its contribution. In addition, the Aerospace study received national media coverage, including mention by National Public Radio and a New York Times editorial in December 2004.

To Winter 2005 Table of Contents