We Decided to Go with a Propulsion System for the 1 Kg Payload Consisting of a Hybrid First

4.2.4.1 1 kg Propulsion 1

We decided to go with a propulsion system for the 1 kg payload consisting of a hybrid first stage followed by solid second and third stages. This configuration was obtained by using the optimization code which gave us the best results for the 1 kg payload launch vehicle.

Our Launch vehicles first stage consists of a hybrid fuel rocket motor. This fuel consists of hydrogen peroxide as the oxidizer and Hydroxyl Terminated Polybutadiene (HTPB) as the solid propellant. The hydrogen peroxide is catalyzed and fed through the grain of the solid fuel where it combusts and travels through the nozzle. The nozzle is a 12 degree conical nozzle with LITVC attached. There is only one engine for this stage. The specific values for stage 1 can be seen below in Table 4.2.4.1.1

Table 4.2.4.1.1 1 kg Payload Stage 1 Propulsion Specifics
Variable / Value / Units
Vacuum Specific Impulse / 352.3 / s
Chamber Pressure / 2,068,000 / Pa
Mass Flow Rate / 6.730 / kg/s
Propellant Mass / 947.9 / kg
Engine Mass / 72.62 / kg
Thrust (vac) / 21,435.5 / N
Burn Time / 140.8 / s
Exit Area / 0.342 / m2
Exit Pressure / 2,821.167 / Pa

For our second stage we chose a solid rocket propellant. The compound for this propellant is Hydroxyl-terminated Polybutadiene/ Ammonium Perchlorate/ Aluminum (HTPB/AP/AL). The nozzle once again is a 12 degree conical nozzle with LITVC attached due to the solid propellant. There is again only one engine for this stage. Table 4.2.4.1.2 below shows the specifics for this stage.

Table 4.2.4.1.2 1 kg Payload Stage 2 Propulsion Specifics
Variable / Value / Units
Vacuum Specific Impulse / 309.3 / s
Chamber Pressure / 6,000,000 / Pa
Mass Flow Rate / 1.880 / kg/s
Propellant Mass / 336.92 / kg
Engine Mass / 36.44 / kg
Thrust (vac) / 6,052.4 / N
Burn Time / 179.2 / s
Exit Area / 0.028 / m2
Exit Pressure / 11,453.660 / Pa

The third and final stage for this launch vehicle consists of a solid propellant motor. The propellant for this stage once again is Hydroxyl-terminated Polybutadiene/ Ammonium Perchlorate/ Aluminum (HTPB/AP/AL). The nozzle is once again a 12 degree conical nozzle but does not have LITVC control for this stage. There is a single engine for stage 3. The specifics can be seen below in Table 4.2.4.1.3 below for stage 3 of this launch vehicle.

Table 4.2.4.1.2 1 kg Payload Stage 2 Propulsion Specifics
Variable / Value / Units
Vacuum Specific Impulse / 309.3 / s
Chamber Pressure / 6,000,000 / Pa
Mass Flow Rate / 0.231 / kg/s
Propellant Mass / 45.09 / kg
Engine Mass / 9.53 / kg
Thrust (vac) / 743.4 / N
Burn Time / 195.3 / s
Exit Area / 0.003 / m2
Exit Pressure / 11,453.660 / Pa

Author: Ricky Hinton