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QuickReach
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Moderator  
Joined: Thu Jun 03, 2004 11:23 am
Posts: 3745 Location: Hamburg, Germany 
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 QuickReach Posted on: Fri Mar 10, 2006 12:04 pmThere are news about QuickReach at Airlaunch LLC's homepage. When I looked there not long ago I didn't find anything about it.
Obviously there are successful engine firing tests, drop tests and seperation tests: www.airlaunchllc.com/News.htm . The homepage includes photos also. Quote: AIRLAUNCH LLC COMPLETES FALCON PROGRAM MILESTONE Kirkland, Washington (January 13, 2006) - Air Launch LLC completed a full scale stage separation test of its QuickReach™ small launch vehicle – the first major milestone of Phase 2B of the DARPA/Air Force Falcon program. This test convincingly demonstrated that the innovative gas pneumatic stage separation technique, pioneered by AirLaunch’s founder Gary C. Hudson, is practical and safe. Prior to this full scale test, AirLaunch performed detailed modeling and conducted a number of component and subscale tests. In 2005, Team AirLaunch completed Phase 2A on time and on budget with significant hardware and testing, including four engine test firings, a stage separation test, ground drop test, and a C-17 drop test in September 2005. Dipl.-Volkswirt (bdvb) Augustin (Political Economist) |
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Moderator
Joined: Thu Jun 03, 2004 11:23 am
Posts: 3745 Location: Hamburg, Germany
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Posted on: Tue Jun 20, 2006 11:02 am According to the informations avalailable since the 20th of June the QuickReach is two-staged, 19.80 meters long and 2.10 meters in diameter.
The two stages seem to be overlapping... Dipl.-Volkswirt (bdvb) Augustin (Political Economist) |
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Space Station Member  
Joined: Wed Nov 10, 2004 6:12 am
Posts: 321 Location: Melbourne, Australia
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Posted on: Wed Jun 21, 2006 8:39 am Yes, they are overlapping. As I understand it, the second stage engine and nozzle are submerged in the first stage fuel tank, saving on the weight & length of a mostly empty interstage section. The first stage fuel tank breaks open at first stage separation to uncover them.
Sounds tricky, but AirLaunch think it will work, and they have ground tested stage separation successfully. |
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Joined: Thu Jun 03, 2004 11:23 am
Posts: 3745 Location: Hamburg, Germany
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Posted on: Wed Jul 05, 2006 12:19 pm I was wondering about the weight a bit because of some considerations and calculations in the Financial Barriers section. The weight of the QuickReach seems to be less than 10% of what has been calculated there.
In between it seems to me that the explanation is the staging. To throw away the first stage reduces the remaining mass to a degree that is felt by the second stage and the payload. But I still think about it. ... ... ... Dipl.-Volkswirt (bdvb) Augustin (Political Economist) |
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Joined: Thu Jun 03, 2004 11:23 am
Posts: 3745 Location: Hamburg, Germany
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Posted on: Wed May 09, 2007 10:27 am In between I found an Isp for LOX/propane under www.leitenberger.de: 3637 m/s (german) - 370 s to 371 s (american - got by division by 9,81 m/s^2 ). The reaction is C2H6 +7O = 2 CO2 + 3 H2O.
Since there seems to be a mixing of data by unrecognized error here an alternative set of numbers: Isp 3669 m/s (german) - 374 s (american) (reaction as listed above) Unfortunately I didn't find data abot thrust yet. Dipl.-Volkswirt (bdvb) Augustin (Political Economist) |
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Joined: Thu Jun 03, 2004 11:23 am
Posts: 3745 Location: Hamburg, Germany
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Posted on: Mon Oct 08, 2007 9:09 am Calculating the QuickReach for purposes of the CXV-thread in the Financial Barriers section the data seem to indicate that the first stage applies another mixture ratio than the first stage.
Is that usual? Might it have to do with VAPAK? Dipl.-Volkswirt (bdvb) Augustin (Political Economist) |
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Joined: Thu Jun 03, 2004 11:23 am
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Posted on: Mon Nov 19, 2007 11:23 am I was thinking about it a bit more and I also looked for informations but didn't find out nothing.
Might it be possible that the different mixture ratios I seem to have found have to do with the different external pressure - might it be that in a more extreme vaccum less vapor pressure is required than at an altitude of 10 km to 15 km and that QuickReach makes use of it? I am NOT saying that this is so - I am only thinking about what I seem to have found and to try to find an explanation for the case it's correct and on the other hand I try find mistakes, errors, points leading me astray and so on. Dipl.-Volkswirt (bdvb) Augustin (Political Economist) |
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Joined: Thu Jun 03, 2004 11:23 am
Posts: 3745 Location: Hamburg, Germany
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Posted on: Sun Aug 17, 2008 6:35 am Since a few days additional data about QuickReach are available - I talked about it in the Latest News section already. But there other informations are added and I detected additional data in the new documnets - although I suspect them to be included in older documents already including more such data.
Code: Launch T=0 sec Alt = 24,900 ft Velr = 330 fps Range = 0 nmi Staging T =110 sec Alt = 161,000 ft Velr = 7,765 fps Insertion T=366 sec Alt = 608,000 ft Veli = 25,580 fps Range = 620 nmi One of the documents says Quote: For example, at the end of Phase 2C, the company will have a wellcharacterized and tested, restartable second stage liquid engine, with performance of ~25,000 pounds thrust. According to SpaceX the Kestrel engine of the second stage of the Falcon 1 has a vacuum thrust of 6,900 lb. Stage separation happens after 169 seconds and at an altitude of 297,000 feet. To me this comparison seems to mean that the second stage of the QuickReach has more power than the seconds stage of the Falcon 1. What about it all? Dipl.-Volkswirt (bdvb) Augustin (Political Economist) |
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Moderator
Joined: Mon Feb 09, 2004 4:01 am
Posts: 750 Location: New Zealand
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Posted on: Wed Oct 22, 2008 6:16 pm The submerging is pretty neat. It shortens the rocket a great deal, but it removes any real possibility of recovering the first stage for reuse.
It might be an interesting way of packing a longer aerospike. The second stage does appear to be quite significant, being nearly a third of the vehicle. _________________ What goes up better doggone well stay up! - Morgan Gravitronics, Company Slogan. |
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