10-03-20-Boeing FAST NIMITZ Concept-Approved for Public Release-Revision A2

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Copyright 2009 Boeing. All rights reserved.

Integrated Defense Systems

Phantom Works

FAST Nimitz A Powerful, Highly Mobile Platform to

Address Space Debris in Any Orbit

Tom KesslerBoeing Advanced Systems(714) [email protected]

10-03-20 Boeing FAST Nimitz Concept Approved for Public Release Revision A2.ppt | 1

The views, opinions, and/or findings contained in this article/presentation are those of the author/presenterand should not be interpreted as representing the official views or policies, either expressed or implied, of

the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency or the Department of Defense.

DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT AApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited.


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Integrated Defense Systems | Phantom Works

Approved for public release, distribution unlimited

Space Debris Is An Increasing Threatto Both GEO and LEO Operations

Image courtesy of the European Space Operations Centre and Universe Today, 4/11/08

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About 40% of ground-trackable space debris come from explosions, nowrunning at four to five per year.

Collisions will exceed explosions as a source of new debris within 20 years

Collisions between live spacecraft and other objects can be mitigated bybetter tracking

First priorities should be to reduce threats of

Upper stage / spacecraft explosions

Dead-on-dead debris collisions


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Space Debris is In ManyInclinations And Altitudes

LEO debris is scattered in inclination,Right Ascension, and altitude

Cost effective, timely solution requiresthat multiple debris objects be engagedper mission/vehicle

Traveling Salesman Problem

For a given list of cities (debris targets)and their pairwise distances (delta-V),what is the shortest possible (leastenergy) tour that visits each city once.

3Data per History of On-Orbit Satellite Fragmentations 14th Edition, NASA Orbital Debris Program Office

Image courtesy of the European Space Operations Centre and Universe Today, 4/11/08

Effective space-based solution should have high delta-V


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Fabricate a high power and light weight solar electric arrayFabricate a high power and light weight solar electric array

that can support a wide range of space applications, andthat can support a wide range of space applications, and

ground test it in a relevant space environmentground test it in a relevant space environment

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GOALS~30kWe electrical power

>130W/kg specific power

Scalable to 100 - 1,000kWe

MCA SolarPerformance Characteristics

Sunlight

Thermal Conduction

Radiative

Emission

Mechanical /

Electrical Link

Mirror

Radiator

Solar Cells - 12.5:1

Concentration

23.1m

2.25m

Basic FAST 15 KW Solar Wing Building Block

FAST Program Overview


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Inherent scalability

Design is modular, one array (2 wings) yields ~30 kWe

Modular approach scales up, dimensions by 2X, area by 4X

Modular: Up to six wings can be flown in tandem for180 kWe

Scalable: Doubling wing dimensions yields ~720 kWe

Future technology will scale up power & reduces mass

Scaling up dimensions Advanced solar cells

Flexible launch vehicle packaging & interface

4X better packaging efficiency than state of the art

SLV 30 kWe HPGS, packages in

1.7m Falcon 1E fairing

Minotaur IV

EELV Scaled-up 180 kWe system fits in 5m fairing

Inherently survivable/hardened configuration

Laser survivability due to MCA geometry

More radiation tolerant due to shielding of surrounding MCA structure

Supports multiple passes through Van Allen Radiation Belt

180 kWeor

720 kWe

Concept

Big when scaled upbut not too big

Equivalent

Acreage

180kWe

720kWe

Potential for > 50% increase inspecific power in next decade

30 kWe Arrayin Falcon 1E

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RT time (days) Number of RT

60 13 to 17

100 9 to 11

125 6 to 7200 4 to 5

Enables LEO to GEO round trips (RT)

Key FAST Features


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FAST Enables Very High Power Electric Propulsionand an Order-of-Magnitude Greater Delta-V

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FAST spacecraft configurations with useful payloads

offer 9,000 14,000meters/second of delta-V

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

0,000

2,000

4,000

0 0. 0.2 0.3 0.4 0. 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9

Propellant Mass Fraction (Mp/Mo)

(V(m/s

ec)

702

601

Dawn

FAST

DRM1

HET: 2,000

sec

Biprop:320 sec

Ion:4,000

sec


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Boeing Has Demonstrated Fully AutonomousRendezvous (with or without client aids)

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Orbital Express Demonstrated FullyAutonomous RPO from 200 KM in to 10 CM

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Northrop Grumman-provided hardware demonstratedautonomous transfer of hydrazine propellant to andfrom the NextSat spacecraft 15 times

Multiple types of fuel transfers are demonstrated

MDA-provided robotic arm demonstratedeight battery and computer transfers inboth directions between the Ball andBoeing spacecraft for both a battery anda flight computer module

Orbital Express Demonstrated FullyAutonomous ORU and Propellant Transfer

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ORU

Nimitz itself can be

refueled further

extending its

capability and

improving overall

economics


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Summary

FAST Nimitz offers revolutionary capability for debris mission High Performance Vast improvement over Bi-Prop propulsion and SOA solar arrays

Cost effective - This delta-V can allow removal/supersynching of many large GEO orLEO debris objects in a single mission

Boeings FAST team has or is demonstrating the key Nimitz technologies 30 KW High Power Generation System Module

24 - 30 KW electric propulsion system

Fully autonomous Rendezvous & Proximity Operations GN&C systems for space debris

Highly flexible robotic systems developed under FREND & Orbital Express programs FAST Nimitz can carry multiple payloads to affect space debris of many

types in many useful ways: Direct capture/transfer/de-orbit of large debris

Indirect, non co-orbital deployment of de-orbit systems

Etc.

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Metric Bi-Prop FAST with EP Advantage

Total S/C Power 1 kW 30 KW 30x more

Delta-V 1-2 Km/s 9-14 Km/s 5-10x more


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Abstract - Fast Access Spacecraft Testbed (FAST) Nimitz

High Energy Spacecraft for Orbital Debris Removal

This paper describes how a space vehicle utilizing a high-power solar array and equippedwith advanced high-power solar electric propulsion can be fitted with a capturing systemfor space debris disposal.

The NIMITZ spacecraft, powered by a FAST (Fast Access Spacecraft Testbed) solarconcentrator solar array provides 30 180 KW for payload or electric propulsion. TheFAST solar array, being developed by The Boeing Company under a DARPA contract, is

a 30kWe solar concentrator system. When integrated with a space platform equippedwith advanced high-power gridded ion or Hall effect thrusters, the space platform iscapable of5,000-15,000 meters/sec delta-V. This capability coupled with a robotic armwith a broad array of end effectors and other capabilities, results in a configurationcapable of capturing and/or disposing of any class of space debris in any orbit from LEOto GEO.

Also discussed is the ability to intercept debris and utilize exceptional maneuverability,

including the number of objects that can be visited, the time to maneuver between objects,direct rendezvous and proximity operations for large debris transfer, providing remotedeployment of deorbit packages, and small/medium removal means, all due to high delta-V capability of NIMITZ.

NIMITZ would be cost effective, removing large debris for one value price andsmall/medium debris for another. NIMITZ would be timely, removing large debris withindays and small/medium debris within weeks, depending upon specific orbit and payload.

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10-03-20-Boeing FAST NIMITZ Concept-Approved for Public Release-Revision A2