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The purpose of this paper is to attempt an aerospaceplane design with the objective of Low-Earth-Orbit-and-Return-to-Earth (LEOARTE) under the constraints of safety, low cost, reliability, low maintenance, aircraft-like operation and environmental compatibility. Along the same lines, a “sister” point-to-point flight on Earth Suborbital Aerospaceplane is proposed.

The LEOARTE aerospaceplane is based on a simple design, proven low risk technology, a small payload, an aerodynamic solution to re-entry heating, the high-speed phase of the outgoing flight taking place outside the atmosphere, a propulsion system comprising turbojet and rocket engines, an Air Collection and Enrichment System (ACES) and an appropriate mission profile.

It was found that a LEOARTE aerospaceplane design subject to the specified constraints with a cost as low as 950 United States Dollars (US$) per kilogram into Low Earth Orbit (LEO) might be feasible. As indicated by a case study, a LEOARTE aerospaceplane could lead, among other activities in space, to economically viable Space-Based Solar Power (SBSP). Its “sister” Suborbital aerospaceplane design could provide high-speed, point-to-point flights on the Earth.

The proposed LEOARTE aerospaceplane design renders space exploitation affordable and is much safer than ever before.

This paper provides an alternative approach to aerospaceplane design as a result of a new aerodynamically oriented Thermal Protection System (TPS) and a, perhaps, improved ACES. This approach might initiate widespread exploitation of space and offer a solution to the high-speed “air” transportation issue.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a tri‐axis spacecraft simulator to simulate the three‐axis attitude motion of a satellite and for ground‐based hardware‐in‐the‐loop simulation.

The structure of tri‐axis satellite attitude simulator is designed first. Full dynamic model is then derived. Based on the dynamic model, a simple proportional‐integral‐derivative controller is developed and applied to control the motion of simulator.

The effectiveness of the proposed simulator configuration has been verified through numerical simulations. The tri‐axis simulator can follow the satellite attitude motion precisely.

This paper is valuable for researchers working on the development of tri‐axis spacecraft attitude simulator. This work is original. The simulator configuration has been applied to a satellite mission that was launched successfully in 2006.

This paper aims to unravel the technological innovation pattern in China’s aerospace industry. The technological innovation pattern of China’s aerospace industry is identified and its theoretical foundation, structure, philosophy, formation and effects on the development of China’s aerospace industry are explored.

First, the theoretical foundation of synergy innovation of China’s aerospace industry is reviewed to further identify the technological innovation pattern. Second, Chinese ancient philosophy (dialectical thinking) is used to explain the structure and process of synergy innovation in China’s aerospace industry. Third, the formation process of synergy innovation is introduced, and, finally, the effects of synergy innovation are discussed.

The technological innovation pattern of China’s aerospace industry has undergone an evolutionary process. During this process, China’s aerospace firms have formed a unique technological innovation pattern, synergy innovation, under China’s special political and economic background. The synergy innovation has three characteristics, including original, integrated and application-based. The synergy innovation pattern application is one of the most important reasons behind the great achievements of China’s aerospace industry.

A unique technological innovation pattern, synergy innovation, is proposed for the first time. A new perspective for understanding innovation is provided by applying the Chinese dialectical thinking to decipher the philosophy of the technological innovation pattern. Based on this, this paper suggests that China’s aerospace industry should follow the situation and apply the synergy innovation pattern to achieve development and growth. This paper also illustrates a multi-method approach and emphasizes the different levels of organizing for innovation.

The purpose of this paper is to deal with the study of an innovative unmanned mission to Mars, which is aimed at acquiring a great amount of detailed data related to both Mars’ atmosphere and surface.

The Mars surface exploration is conceived by means of a fleet of drones flying among a set of reference points (acting also as entry capsules and charging stations) on the surface. The three key enabling technologies of the proposed mission are the use of small satellites (used in constellation with a minimum of three), the use of electric propulsion systems for the interplanetary transfer (to reduce the propellant mass fraction) and lightweight, efficient, drones designed to operate in the harsh Mars environment and with its tiny atmosphere.

The low-thrust Earth-Mars transfer is designed by means of an optimization approach resulting in a duration of slightly more than 27 months with a propellant amount of about 125 kg, which is compatible with the choice of considering a 500 kg-class spacecraft. Four candidate drone configurations have been selected as the result of a sensitivity analysis. Flight endurance, weight and drone size have been considered as the driving design parameters for the selection of the final configuration, which is characterized by six rotors, a total mass of about 6.5 kg and a flight endurance of 28 minutes. In the mission scenario proposed, the drone is assumed to be delivered on the Mars surface by means of a passive entry capsule, which acts also as a docking station and charging base. Such a capsule has been sized both in terms of mass (68 kg) and power (80 W), showing to be compatible with 500 kg-class spacecraft.

As a general conclusion, the study shows the mission concept feasibility.

The concept would return incomparable scientific data and can be also be potentially implemented with a relatively low budget exploiting of the shelf components to the larger extent, small identical spacecraft buses and modular low-cost drones.

The innovative mission architecture proposed in this study aims at providing a complete coverage of the surface and lowest atmospheric layers. The main innovation factor of the proposed mission consists in the adoption of small multi-copter UAVs, also called “drones,” as remote-sensing platforms.

On 13 July 1974, President Nixon signed a proclamation declaring the week of 20 July National Space Week, in honor of man's landing on the moon on 20 July 1969. Although the lunar landing was certainly the emotional high point for the American space program, interest in space remains quite high, as evidenced by the tremendous popularity of films and books on the subject. The intention of this article is to provide readers with a guide to materials that serve to focus attention on space exploration, not only during Space Week, but throughout the year.

Briefly reviews previous literature by the author before presenting an original 12 step system integration protocol designed to ensure the success of companies or countries in their efforts to develop and market new products. Looks at the issues from different strategic levels such as corporate, international, military and economic. Presents 31 case studies, including the success of Japan in microchips to the failure of Xerox to sell its invention of the Alto personal computer 3 years before Apple: from the success in DNA and Superconductor research to the success of Sunbeam in inventing and marketing food processors: and from the daring invention and production of atomic energy for survival to the successes of sewing machine inventor Howe in co‐operating on patents to compete in markets. Includes 306 questions and answers in order to qualify concepts introduced.

The purpose of this paper is to present a method to achieve small satellite formation keeping operations by using the differential lift and drag to control the drift caused by J2 perturbation in circular or near-circular low earth orbits (LEOs).

Each spacecraft is equipped with five large flat plates, which can be controlled to generate differential accelerations. The aerodynamic lift and drag acting on a flat plate is calculated by the kinetic theory. To maintain the formation within tracking error bounds in the presence of J2 perturbation, a nonlinear Lyapunov-based feedback control law is designed.

Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed method is efficient for the satellite formation keeping and better accuracy advantage in comparison with classical approaches via the fixed maximum differential aerodynamic acceleration.

Because the aerodynamic force will reduce drastically as the orbital altitude increases, the formation keeping control strategy for small satellites presented in this paper should be limited to the scenarios when satellites are in LEO.

The formation keeping control method in this paper can be applied to solve satellite formation keeping problem for small satellites in LEO.

This paper proposes a Lyapunov control strategy for satellite formation keeping considering both lift and drag forces, and simulation results show better performance with high accuracy under J2 perturbation.

According to the study of the space flight market, there is a demand for space suborbital flights including commercial tourist flights. However, one of the challenges is to design a mission and a vehicle that could offer flights with relatively low G-loads. The project of the rocket-plane in a strake-wing configuration was undertaken to check if such a design could meet the FAA recommendation for this kind of flight. The project concept assumes that the rocket plane is released from a slowly flying carrier plane, then climbs above 100 kilometers above sea level and returns in a glide flight using a vortex lift generated by the strake-wing configuration. Such a mission has to include a flight transition during the release and return phases which might not be comfortable for passengers. Verification if FAA recommendation is fulfilled during these transition maneuvers was the purpose of this study.

The project was focused on the numerical investigation of a possibility to perform transition maneuvers mentioned above in a passenger-friendly way. The numerical simulations of a full-scale rocket-plane were performed using the simulation and dynamic stability analyzer (SDSA) software package. The influence of an elevator deflection change on flight parameters was investigated in two cases: a transition from the steep descent at high angles of attack to the level glide just after rocket-plane release from the carrier and an analogous transition after re-entry to the atmosphere. In particular, G-loads and G-rates were analyzed.

As a result, it was found that the values of these parameters satisfied the specific requirements during the separation and transition from a steep descent to gliding. They would be acceptable for an average passenger.

To verify the modeling approach, a flight test campaign was performed. During the experiment, a rocket-plane scaled model was released from the RC model helicopter. The rocket-plane model was geometrically similar only. Froude scales were not applied because they would cause excessive technical complications. Therefore, a separate simulation of the experiment with the application of the scaled model was performed in the SDSA software package. Results of this simulation appeared to be comparable to flight test results so it can be concluded that results for the full-scale rocket-plane simulation are also realistic.

It was proven that the rocket-plane in a strake-wing configuration could meet the FAA recommendation concerning G-loads and G rates during suborbital flight. Moreover, it was proven that the SDSA software package could be applied successfully to simulate flight characteristics of airplanes flying at angles of attack not only lower than stall angles but also greater than stall angles.

The application of rocket-planes in a strake-wing configuration could make suborbital tourist flights more popular, thus facilitating the development of manned space flights and contributing to their cost reduction. That is why it was so important to prove that they could meet the FAA recommendation for this kind of service.

The original design of the rocket plane was analyzed. It is equipped with an optimized strake wing and is controlled with oblique, all moving, wingtip plates. Its post-stall flight characteristics were simulated with the application of the SDSA software package which was previously validated only for angles of attack smaller than stall angle. Therefore, experimental validation was necessary. However, because of excessive technical problems caused by the application of Froude scales it was not possible to perform a conventional test with a dynamically scaled model. Therefore, the geometrically scaled model was built and flight tested. Then a separate simulation of the experiment with the application of this model was performed. Results of this separate simulation were compared with the results of the flight test. This comparison allowed to draw the conclusion on the applicability of the SDSA software for post-stall analyzes and, indirectly, on the applicability of the proposed rocket-plane for tourist suborbital flights. This approach to the experimental verification of numerical simulations is quite unique. Finally, a quite original method of the model launching during flight test experiment was applied.