Circular earth orbits attainable with fixed two-impulse expendable tug

Abstract

The performance of solid rocket motors in expendable stages as an alternative concept for Shuttle interim upper stage applications is assessed from the standpoint of mission flexibility. The system comprises two stages and a payload, released from a circular Shuttle orbit at 160 naut miles altitude. The stages are sized to deliver a given payload mass to synchronous equatorial orbit. Only nonreturn missions are considered. A parametric sweep was made with small increments of pitch and yaw to compute the possible transfer orbits with an apogee greater than 160 naut miles. At several points on each transfer orbit the possibility of attaining a circular orbit with the second burn impulse of 6000 fps was assessed. Constraints on the vertical component of the second impulse and on the total velocity after firing determine the pitch angle for second burn. Results indicate a fixed two-impulse system designed to place a payload into synchronous equatorial orbit from the Shuttle orbit can deliver the payload mass into any lower circular orbit at any inclination within about 30 deg of the Shuttle orbit. The only apparent disadvantage of the system is an inability to achieve circular orbits above geosynchronous altitudes with the design payload.