In a flight demonstration this Thursday (Feb. 5), Kelly Space & Technology Inc., in cooperation with NASA and the U.S. Air Force, will demonstrate KST’s patented Eclipse Tow
Launch Technology, which will make access to space affordable and
routine.
The San Bernardino, Calif.-based KST has been conducting the EXD
program in cooperation with NASA Dryden Flight Research Center and
the Air Force Flight Test Center under a Small Business Innovation
Research (SBIR) contract awarded by the Air Force Research
Laboratory, formerly the USAF Phillips Laboratory.
NASA Dryden is providing KST with equipment, facilities, research
pilots, engineering services, and flight test operations support for
the EXD program under a no-funds-exchange Space Act Agreement. As
the Responsible Test Organization (RTO), NASA Dryden also is
responsible for flight safety.
During the last year, KST jointly participated in the ground and
flight tests of its Eclipse Tow Launch Technology using modified,
USAF-supplied QF-106A aircraft, along with a USAF Flight Test
Center-supplied C-141A tow aircraft at Edwards AFB. The tests have
demonstrated the viability of the Eclipse Tow Launch Technology, and
have confirmed that a supersonic delta-wing aircraft can be towed
safely.
Under the SBIR contract, the QF-106A has been modified to
incorporate tow provisions to link it to the C-141A tow aircraft.
The QF-106A delta-wing aircraft represents a scaled version of the
delta-wing KST family of Reusable Aerospace Planes, which the company
is developing for commercial operation. The C-141A two aircraft
represents a commercial jet aircraft such as a Boeing 747 , which KST
will modify to tow its Astroliner Aerospace Plane.
The Astroliner, a delta-wing vehicle slightly larger than the
Space Shuttle, will accommodate payload weights up to 10,000 lbs.
utilizing a second-stage liquid propellant propulsion system.
Smaller payloads and lower orbits will be handled with a more
cost-effective solid propulsion second stage. The Astroliner will
begin commercial operations by mid-2001.
Under the Eclipse Tow Launch Technology, KST will use a modified
aircraft to tow the Astroliner from a conventional runway to a launch
altitude of 20,000 feet. At launch altitude, the main rocket engine
is ignited, the tow line is released, and the Astroliner climbs to
the designated payload deployment altitude of approximately 400,000
feet.
Following deployment from the Astroliner, the expendable second
stage is ignited and delivers the customer’s satellite into the
desired orbit. After the spacecraft and second stage separation, the
stage will be programmed to reenter the atmosphere to avoid leaving
debris in orbit.
The Astroliner reenters the atmosphere and, after having
decelerated to subsonic speeds, starts its air-breathing (jet engine)
propulsion system. It then flies to a designated conventional runway
as a piloted aircraft.
Last May, KST was issued a U.S. patent for “Space launch vehicles
configured as gliders and towed to launch altitude by conventional
aircraft.”
According to its inventor, Michael Kelly, KST president and chief
executive officer, “Our Eclipse tow launch technique, coupled with the
launch vehicle’s reusability, substantially lowers the cost and
increases flexibility well beyond that for fixed-site, expendable or
weight-limited airborne launch systems.”
Motorola has awarded KST a $89 million contract to launch 20
communications satellites into orbit for the Iridium satellite-based,
global personal communications system, which Motorola is developing
at its Satellite Communications facility in Chandler, Ariz.
“As KST’s flagship, the Astroliner will provide a cargo delivery
service,” said Kelly, “ranging from deploying satellites and delivering
intercontinental packages. In the long run, development of reliable
and low-cost space transportation also will enable the general public
to travel in space.”
By this December, KST will introduce into operation its first
aerospace plane , the Sprint, which will provide sub-orbital services
to half of the existing $80 million sub-orbital market.
KST has licensed Eclipse Space Lines of San Bernardino to conduct
operational flight services for the Sprint Aerospace Plane using the
KST patented Eclipse Tow Launch Technology. The Sprint’s services
are being marketed by Microgravity Corp. of San Diego for use by
universities, pharmaceutical companies and computer chip
manufacturers seeking sub-orbital services for micro-gravity
experiments.
