Small Satellite Opportunities at Wallops Flight Facility

GSFC/WallopsFlight Facility

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Small Satellite Opportunities at

Wallops Flight Facility

Dr. John Campbell

Director, Wallops Flight Facility


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The Small Satellite Paradox

Small satellites are not funded (nor built) because of a lack of affordable launch opportunities

and

Affordable small satellite launch capabilities have been slow to emerge due to a limited market


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Small Satellite Launch Enablers

1. Low-cost small launch vehicles

2. Inexpensive & responsive launch ranges

3. Ride sharing


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Low-Cost Launch Vehicles

• Get-Away Special & Hitchhiker once served as the premier means for orbiting small satellites

• New small ELVs are moving to fill the void– Minotaur I, IV, & V

– SpaceX Falcon 1

– Etc.

• Essential characteristics of new vehicles– Simple pad infrastructure

– Short time from arrival at range to launch

– Much lower cost per pound than current vehicles

– Streamlined range support requirements (e.g., data services, personnel accommodations)


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Small Launch Vehicle OptionsConducted from Wallops

Launch Vehicle LEO Mass kg (est.)

Trans-Lunar Injection Mass

kg (est.) Price ROM

Existing Options Pegasus 420 N/A ~$30M

Taurus 3110/3113 1530 350 ~$40M Minotaur 1 580 N/A ~$20M

Near-Term Options Minotaur 4/5 1680 490 ~$30M

Falcon 1 620 100 ~$10M Falcon 9 ~9000 ~2000 ~$30M


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Small Satellites to the Moon

• Small ELVs (e.g., Minotaur V) launched from Wallops can transport 350-500 kg (payload is ~50%) to the Moon

• Can provide low-cost options for Science and Exploration needs– Remote sensing orbiters– Impacters– Small landers– Communication & navigation orbiters


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3. Ride sharing


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Launch Site on Wallops Island


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• MARS owns 2 launch complexes at Wallops

• Used for Wallops small-to-medium class ELV missions

• MARS is a VA & MD sponsored partnership with NASA chartered to pursue commercial aerospace opportunities at Wallops

• Current agreements enable efficient work with Wallops, using multiple business models:• NASA support of MARS commercial launches• MARS support of NASA’s government launches

Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS)


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Wallops Operating Areas

• Wallops operational areas offer nearly unlimited mission capabilities– Restricted NASA-controlled airspace

encompasses Launch Range & Research Airport

– NASA airspace provides direct access to Atlantic Ocean for hazardous mission operations

• Wallops location & geography provides the most efficient access to desirable mid-inclination orbits of 38-60 degrees


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Low-Cost Responsive Range Operations

• Wallops Launch Range is “right-sized” for small spacecraft missions– Small spacecraft missions not competing

against large ELVs or Shuttle– Staff & facilities sized for small orbital

missions

• Wallops has a history & reputation for supporting emerging, low-cost launch vehicles– Schedule flexibility allows for

development mission complications– Safety & project support culture of

assisting projects during development


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Launch Site Integration Flow

Lower Stages

Arrival ~L-30 days

SpacecraftPlus

Upper Stage

Arrival ~L-30 days

Pad

~L-14 days

Launch!

Blockhouse 3

Range Control Center


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Minotaur I Launch @ Wallops


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3. Ride sharing


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Ridesharing

• Small ELVs are still larger than necessary for many small satellites

• Multi-manifesting of small ELVs is critical to ensuring that “Micro-Explorer” spacecraft (50-200 lbs.) mature as a viable class of spacecraft

• Wallops has developed the Multi-Payload Ejector as a key enabler to exploit small ELVs for spacecraft smaller than 1000 lbs.


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Multi-Payload Ejector• MPE able to carry >800 lbs. of individual spacecraft

– 1 primary (up to 200 lbs.)– 6 secondaries (up to 100 lbs. each) – 12 CubeSat tertiaries (up to 3 lbs. each)

• Flexible– Configurable for any launch vehicle, as primary for smaller

ELV & secondary for larger ELVs– Can be flown as 1, 2, or 3 segments allowing trade-offs on

individual spacecraft masses/volume & orbital altitude

• Low-cost & simple– Completes payload deployments within ½ orbit– Motorized spring deployments (no pyrotechnics)– Sounding rocket qualified timers– Single input from launch vehicle initiates all MPE events– Launch vehicle provides only necessary guidance/control

• Rapid Integration


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MPE Integration Flow

T-4weeks

T-3weeks

T-2weeks

T-1week

LaunchDay

.

.

Spacecraft I&T MPE Integration Vehicle Integration & Test

Spacecraft (S/C) Development

& Test

S/C Arrival @ Wallops

S/C Receiving & Inspection

S/C Integration with MPE

MPE Integration with ELV


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MPE Simulation


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Small Satellite Launch Costs by the PoundNot by the vehicle

• Component Costs, w/o Spacecraft (Wallops Launch):– MPE (NASA): $1.5M– I&T (NASA): $300K– Range Services (NASA): $1.5M– Launch Vehicle $16M (assumes Minotaur I)TOTAL: $19.3M

• Payload Capacity (MPE 3-stack configuration)– MPE Structure: ~300 lbs.– 1 primary spacecraft: 200 lbs.– 6 secondary spacecraft (100 lbs. each): 600 lbs.– 12 Cubesats (3 lbs. each) 36 lbs.Total Spacecraft mass for 19 spacecraft 836 lbs

• Cost per payload mass– Minotaur I: $23K/payload lb.– Falcon I: $13.5K/payload lb.


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3. Ride sharing

Documents

Small Satellite Opportunities at Wallops Flight Facility