Documents / Report
This Defense Intelligence Reference Document from the Defense Intelligence Agency, dated 1 November 2010, was produced under the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications (AAWSA) Program. It describes nanosatellite technologies and proposes launching nanosats into orbit with laser Lightcraft propulsion. It also covers a weapon mission selection study and multi-megawatt laser options. The author recommends that the Department of Defense and NASA bring Lightcraft R&D back to the United States and restart the X-50LR flight demonstration program.
“Masse”33 pages
UNCLASSIFIED/ ,,roAt OFFIQI.Ctk WliEii ·••LY propulsion requires a modest 0.1 to 10 MW of total beam power. The ground-based megawatt-class laser beam generator is state-of-the-art technology. The cost of generating electrical power for the ground-based laser beam generator is ~ $0.10/kWh, which translates to< $2/kg of payload. An SDIO study [10, 11] showed that all launch to orbit conditions for a Lightcraft could be satisfied by a single, high-power ground- based laser - with or without the aid of a low altitude laser relay mirror or space-based laser beam generator system. The majority of the system mass required to launch a payload to orbit is left on the ground in the form of the beam generators and their electrical power sources. The dry spacecraft mass can be further reduced by two orders of magnitude, and thus the operating costs reduced by a factor of 10 (to < $2/kg of payload), if Buckytubes are used to construct the vehicle and its subsystems. LIGHTCRAFT NANOSATELLITE CONFIGURATION As shown in Figure 7, the Lightcraft nanosat configuration consists of: 1) a conically shaped "forebody" for lift and aerodynamic compression of ingested airflow (prior to its detonation by laser heating during atmospheric flight); 2) an annular "cowl" or "shroud" within which air detonation or propellant ablation (by intense laser heating) occurs; and 3) a parabola-shaped "afterbody" whose mirrored surface focuses beamed laser energy into regions of sufficient smallness for intense air or propellant heating to occur. And as shown in Figure 8, the vehicle is powered by laser airbreathing propulsion (by detonation of air) until hypersonic speed within the sensible atmosphere is reached; and then the vehicle is powered by laser rocket propulsion (by heating of propellant) during flight above the sensible atmosphere, until cut-off velocity for orbital flight is reached. Shroud (Cowl): within which Laser Heating of Airflow and Propellant Occurs I IForebody: for Lift and Compression of Airflow during Atmospheric Flight Figure 7. Lightcraft Concept [261. 18 --- • Laser Airbreathing Flight from Zero Velocity to Hypersonic Speed --- --- --- Afterbody: with Mirrored Surface for Focusing Laser Energy into the Shroud (Cowl) Laser Beam ·----------- j\ --------- - \Axi-Symmetric Body • Laser Rocket Flight from Hypersonic to Orbital Speed UNCLASSIFIED/ /f81il 8ffl@Itltt ""I! one I
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Report, from the dia collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is under it. 77 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.