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For Details, Contact: Kaye LeFebvre
Phone: 661-824-4541
Fax: 661-824-4174
Email: info@scaled.com
Website: http://www.scaled.com
Press Release
September 18, 2003
Scaled Composites completes the development phase for the
SpaceShipOne rocket propulsion system and selects a motor
component vendor for the flight test phase.
Four years ago, Scaled conducted a study of rocket engine
technologies that were appropriate for its future manned sub-orbital
spaceship design. The results of this study were that a hybrid
configuration using nitrous oxide (liquid N2O) and HTPB (rubber)
propellants would likely provide the safest solution with
operating characteristics that would complement the intended
mission.
In Jan 2000, Scaled defined a new integrated concept for
the hybrid motor that allowed the entire propulsion system
to be mounted to the spaceship by simple skirt flanges on
the oxidizer tank. This concept, which cantilevers the case
and nozzle directly to the tank, required an advanced all-composite
design approach. By early 2001, Scaled had committed to developing
the two main motor composite components in-house: The first
is the nitrous oxide tank, a composite liner laid up onto
titanium flanges, with a graphite over-wrap provided by Thiokol.
The second is a unitized fuel case/nozzle component fabricated
using a high-temperature composite insulator with a graphite/epoxy
structure laid up onto an ablative nozzle supplied by AAE
Aerospace.
In mid 2001, Scaled awarded contracts to two competing small
businesses for the "rocket science". Each company
was independently responsible for the development of the motor's
ignition system, main control valve, injector, tank bulkheads,
electronic controls, fill/dump/vent systems and fuel casting.
The vendors, Environmental Aeroscience Corporation (eAc) of
Miami and SpaceDev (SD) of San Diego, were also tasked with
conducting the ground firing tests of their motor systems
in Scaled's test facility during the development phase.
In June 2002, Scaled selected eAc to supply the components
at the tanks' front end: the nitrous fill, vent and dump system
components and associated plumbing. Both vendors continued
the development of all the other propulsion components.
The ground firing development program started in November
2002 with a 15 second run by the SpaceDev team and ended early
this month with a 90-second run by eAc. Both vendors demonstrated
full design-duration firings during the nine-month development
phase. All tests have exclusively used 100% flight hardware,
with no boilerplate components and both vendors' motor systems
met the contracted performance. The tests validated the inherent
safety of hybrid type motors, with no instances of structural
failure, hot-gas breach, explosion or other anomaly that would
have put SpaceShipOne in jeopardy.
Because both teams were so closely matched, and since both
have developed satisfactory motors the process to select one
of these vendors to enter the motor qualification and flight
test phase was difficult. However, today, Scaled is pleased
to announce that it has awarded the contract for propulsion
support for the SpaceShipOne flight test phase to SpaceDev,
of San Diego.
Scaled now looks forward to entering into the historic phase
of private manned space flight.
Scaled does not pre-announce the specific flight test plans
for the space program, however completed accomplishments are
updated as they happen at our website:
http://www.scaled.com/projects/tierone/index.htm. The website
also provides downloadable photos and technical descriptions
of the rocket motor system and motor test hardware.
Scaled Composites, LLC, is an aerospace research company
located on the Mojave Airport:
1624 Flight Line, Mojave California 93501
Voice (661) 824-4541
Fax (661) 824-4174
Email: info@scaled.com
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