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Defense Intelligence Reference Document Laser Lightcraft Nanosatellites

Defense Intelligence Agency · 77 pages · text from the file's own layer

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.

  • p. 4 …Influence of Target Velocity and Intercept Angle on Impact Energy and Required Mass .................................................................................................. 33 Table 5…
  • p. 5 …The term "minisatellite" refers to a spacecraft with a wet mass (including onboard propellant) of 100…
  • p. 7 …Nanosatellite Technologies OVERVIEW Nanosats require technologies that radically reduce the mass and power of components without…
  • p. 8 …nanosat presents some unique challenges, with low mass (0.25 kg) and low power (0.5…
  • p. 9 …In order to develop a low mass C&DH, a lightweight and low power electronics packaging…
  • p. 11 …RF COMMUNICATIONS The onboard RF subsystem must be small, low mass, and low power. The system…
  • p. 12 …additional strain on an already challenged nanosat mass and power budget. For this reason, the concept…
  • p. 13 …The material will be selected based on mass, cost, manufacturability, ease of assembly and integration, and…
  • p. 15 …for the spacecraft because a large propellant mass and heavy energy source are not carried onboard…
  • p. 17 …Current Lightcraft designs are limited to about 60 g mass and 15 cm in diameter by…
  • p. 21 …It requires a beam power of 0.1 to 1 MW per kg of vehicle mass…
  • p. 22 …The majority of the system mass required to launch a payload to orbit is left on…
  • p. 24 …Therefore, this would allow approximately 4 kg of mass to be placed into orbit with the…
  • p. 25 …same ply-thickness) to meet Lightcraft airframe mass requirements. Another important finding in the study was…
  • p. 31 …Additional estimated mass for performing the Lightsat function is no more than about 1 kg, if…
  • p. 32 …Lightcraft takeoff masses no more than about 20 kg can be accelerated to orbital velocities by…
  • p. 33 …for missile and maneuvering aircraft interception. • Additional mass along Lightcraft centerline for hardened target penetration. LIGHTCRAFT…
  • p. 34 …Lightcraft sizing assumed a propellant mass fraction of 0.5 and 1.0 MW of laser…
  • p. 35 …Hybrid Rocket Expendible Launch Vehicle - Assumed Perfonnance and Estimated Weights Payload Mass (kg) 1.00 5…
  • p. 37 …It is therefore estimated that the air-to-space Lightcraft dry mass would be about the…
  • p. 38 …Influence of Target Velocity and Intercept Angle on Impact Energy and Required Mass 2 61. Lightcraft…
  • p. 39 …Influence of Lightcraft and Target Velocity on Impact Energy and Required Mass 261. Lightcraft Lightcraft Impact…
  • p. 40 …The lower mass also saves launch costs, so the total system costs less for the same…
  • p. 41 …many spacecraft that the economics of true mass production will come into play in space for…
  • p. 44 …the local vertical, with its center of mass in GEO. The Fresnel zone plate has a…
  • p. 46 …wall plug and optical efficiencies, cost, complexity, mass, and size. Free-electron lasers are another class…
  • p. 47 …P = 2000 Pa (or 0.02 atmospheres). • Mass flow rate, Q = 60 kg/sec per module…
  • p. 48 UNCLASSIFIED//509 AEEJCJOP 11£5 O.-blf + Total mass flow rate, Qtota1 = 240 kg/sec for…
  • p. 50 …sec, and 15 kg/sec of CD2 mass flow represents 2.053 x 1026 molecules/sec…
  • p. 51 …The 60 kg/sec mass flow requirement of the 3: 1 N2/C02 lasing gases means…
  • p. 53 …mass (not including the prime power and cooling systems) to achieve the low specific mass (5…
  • p. 65 …is the undulator period, mis the electron mass, and c is the speed of light. 'MeV…
  • p. 72 …The Lightcraft specific impulse is essentially infinite (several thousand seconds in rocket mode), while payload mass…
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Contents
Chapter 1: Nanosatellite Technologies .................................................................. 3
Chapter 2: Laser Lightcraft Nanosatellite Propulsion .............................................. 11
Chapter 3: Laser Lightcraft Weapon Mission Selection Study .................................. 27
Chapter 4: Summary of Multi-Megawatt Laser Study for Lightcraft Propulsion
Applications ..................................................................................................... 42
Chapter 5: Conclusion ...................................................................................... 68
References ....................................................................................................... 71
Figures
Figure 1. Air Force X-25LR Laser Lightcraft .......................................................... 12
Figure 2. AFRL Test Vehicle in Vertical Flight ........................................................ 14
Figure 3. Time-Lapse Photo of a Lightcraft Undergoing an Outdoor Vertical Flight Test 15
Figure 4. Lightcraft Flight-Test Vehicle Used in Horizontal Guide-Wire Flight Tests ...... 16
Figure 5. Lightcraft Undergoing Horizontal Guide-Wire Flight Test ........................... 16
Figure 6. Lightcraft Undergoing Horizontal Guide-Wire Flight Test ........................... 17
Figure 7. Lightcraft Concept ............................................................................... 18
Figure 8. Lightcraft Trajectory and Associated Pointing Angles ................................. 19
Figure 9. Lightcraft Vehicle Evolution ................................................................... 20
Figure 10. Attenuation Effects on Captured Laser Beam Power ................................ 22
Figure 11. Influence of Trajectory and Laser Wavelength on Captured Power ............. 22
Figure 12. Captured Laser Power vs. Increasing Range from 11.2 μm CO2 Laser ........ 23
Figure 13. Influence of Lightcraft Range and Pointing Angles on Captured Power ........ 24
Figure 14. Ground/Sea-to-Space Concept ............................................................. 27
Figure 15. Air-to-Space Concept ......................................................................... 28
Figure 16. Schematic of Power Oscillator Optics ................................................... .44
Figure 17. Schematic of MOPA ............................................................................ 45
Figure 18. Schematic of the Laser N2/CO2/H2 Gas Flow System ................................ 45
Figure 19. Northrop Grumman's Joint High Power Bulk Slab Solid-State Laser .......... .48
Figure 20. DARPA's High Energy Liquid Laser Area Defense System ......................... 50
Figure 21. Phase Change Materials Allow Storage of Large Intermittent Heat Loads
While Slow Regeneration Removes Heat from Aircraft ............................................ 52
Figure 22. Typical HPFL MDPA Design .................................................................. 54
Figure 23. Fiber Laser Beam Combining Techniques ............................................... 54
Figure 24. Pumping Fiber Lasers ......................................................................... 56
Figure 25. Large and Small Diameter Fiber Lasers ................................................. 56
Figure 26. Single Mode Fiber Laser Modules .......................................................... 57
Figure 27. Multimode HPFLs ............................................................................... 57
Figure 28. Free-Electron Laser ............................................................................ 58
Figure 29. Free-Electron Laser Mechanism ............................................................ 58
Figure 30. Free-Electron Laser Electron Beam Phase-Space Evolution ....................... 59
Figure 31. Recirculating-Beam FEL System ........................................................... 60
Figure 32. High-Power FEL Optical Resonator ........................................................ 62
Figure 33. Notional Long Range HEL Beam Control System ..................................... 64
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