A Defense Science Board (DSB) task force has added its voice to earlier recommendations that the USA modernise its space launch ranges and operate them in a public-private partnership.
In return for modernising the East and West Coast ranges to improve flexibility and reduce operating costs, the US Air Force (USAF) should charge commercial and government customers a user fee, says the task force.
Because of the reduction in the commercial launch market following the failure of satellite communications provider Iridium, the US Government will remain the predominant customer for the Cape Canaveral, Florida, and Vandenberg, California, launch sites, the DSB concludes. As a result, the government should pay for the infrastructure and operate the ranges, but charge for their use, the Board recommends.
Estimating the ranges cost $600 million a year to operate, the DSB urges the USAF to modernise the ranges to reduce operating cost and improve flexibility. Upgrading to "space-centric" range technology to 2012 "could bring operating costs down by at least a factor of two, and probably more", says Pete Aldridge, DSB chief.
Space-centric technology includes using GPS satellite-based tracking: "GPS metric tracking on the [launch] vehicle itself would eliminate 11 of 20 radars at the ranges," he says.
The USAF plans to move to GPS tracking and, according to Aldridge, is prepared to pay the non-recurring cost of integrating the equipment on to launch vehicles and to offset the per-launch cost of carrying the additional weight.
Other elements of a space-centric range include telemetry via satellite, which removes the need for a ground communications network. Aldridge notes that Boeing Sea Launch already uses NASA's TDRSS satellites for telemetry.
Previous studies have recommended operating the ranges as a public-private partnership, but the DSB suggests a mechanism whereby government would pay for the first 20 launches and commercial users the next 20, "at significantly less cost", says Aldridge. Users could challenge costs and invest in the ranges if they could reduce them.
Source: Flight International