Tim Furniss/LONDON
Australia is to join the international space-launch industry by establishing a commercial launch site at Woomera, South Australia, to support flight operations by the US Kistler Aerospace K-1 reusable satellite launch vehicle fleet. Test flights are expected later this year.
A capital investment of A$50 million ($32 million) will be made this year. Over the next 12 years, the project is forecast to contribute A$2.9 billion to Australia's economy and create over 3,000 jobs in South Australia.
Kistler, meanwhile, plans to capture a share of the lucrative low and medium Earth orbit (LEO/MEO) communications satellite launch market by being the first to field a fully reusable system offering low-cost launches. The two stage, 35m-tall K-1 offers a maximum 4,500kg satellite delivery service to LEO and 2,590kg to MEO, with launches costing $17 million.
Privately funded Kistler plans to provide launch services to a market which includes about 1,700 new commercial telecommunications satellites forecast over the next decade, many of which will be placed into LEO and MEO orbits for mobile communications and "Internet in the sky" applications. Loral has awarded Kistler a $100 million contract to send 10 Globalstar mobile communications satellites into orbit between 1999 and 2002.
PARACHUTE LANDINGS
Two test vehicles and three operational launchers will be built. Both stages of the K-1 will return to the launch site at spaceport Woomera, landing under parachutes and using airbags to cushion the impact. The first stage will touch down about 5km (3 miles) from the launch pad at T+10min. The second stage will land close to the spaceport after completing its orbital deployments and re-entry (Flight International, 22-28 October,1997).
The stages will be processed for another flight and will be able to be reused up to 100 times. A 14-day turnaround is planned, which - with three operational vehicles - will translate into a possible launch every three to four days. Kistler hopes eventually to perform a more modest 50 launches a year.
Original plans for suborbital test flights have been scrapped in favour of up to six orbital test launches with the K-1. Kistler expects to launch its first commercial payloads in 1999.
The US company says it was attracted to Australia because of the availability of relevant infrastructure and of launch sites with overland flightpaths in unpopulated areas.
About 450km north of Adelaide and stretching for 2,000km across the desert, the Woomera Rocket Range was established in 1946 and played a leading role in the testing of the UK's Blue Streak rocket. It was the site of the UK's first and only satellite launch when a Black Arrow carried the Prospero satellite into orbit in 1971. Australia's first satellite, the Wresat, was launched from Woomera in 1967.
Kistler, meanwhile, has completed a major milestone in the development of the K-1 with successful fuel tank testing. Hydrostatic proof testing of the K-1 liquid oxygen tank, built by Lockheed Martin's Michoud Space Systems division, was conducted to simulate the pressures the tank will experience during flight.
The aluminum fuel tank, which will contain liquid oxygen to be used during first stage boost, was filled with about 160,000 litres of water to mimic flight pressures and prove flightworthiness. During the proof test procedure, a maximum pressure of 0.3036 (44lb/in2) was generated hydrostatically at the rear of the tank.
Another milestone has been GenCorp Aerojet's successful test firing of the first US-modified Russian NK-33 engine for the K-1 first stage (Aerojet modified the NK-33 for the K-1). The 145s test, with thrust varying from 790kN (177,000lb) to 1,575kN, exceeded the actual launch flight duration of 135s and demonstrated the performance and control which is needed for the entire boost phase. The test validated the use of off-the-shelf components to develop and produce a fully reusable launch vehicle quickly, says Aerojet .
DESIGN AIM
The design goal is to use each engine 20 times. Kistler plans to purchase 58 of the 1,510kN NK-33s. US replacement components include the new gimbal system for vehicle steering, solid propellant gas generator, numerous electrically operated valves, main combustion chamber pyrotechnic igniters, and harness assembly.
Further additions include electro-mechanical actuators (EMAs) which use modern electronics and offer extended control range. During the test fire, the EMAs were used to throttle the engine from 50% to 100% thrust 1.75s after initiation.
Source: Flight International
