Модернизированная Athena

[Космос-3794]

Lockheed Martin и ATK  замутили модернизацию ракеты  Athena.
На первой ступени будет использоваться прежний Castor 120, а на второй вместо Orbus 21D (разработки Chemical Systems Division of United Technologies Corp. ), будет устанавливаться Castor 30, разработанный ATK  для второй ступени орбиталовского Taurus 2.
Модернизированные ракеты, Athena 1c и Athena 2c, будут использоваться для вывода на орбиту полезной нагрузки массой до 1712 кг.
Ракеты будут конкурировать с орбиталовскими  Pegasus, Taurus 1 и Minotaur, а также масковским Falcon 1E.
Ракеты смогут запускаться с нескольких площадок, включая Cape Canaveral Air Force Station во Флориде, Kodiak Launch Complex на Аляске, Vandenberg Air Force Base на побережье Калифорнии and the Wallops Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport на острове Уоллопс в Вирджинии.

http://www.spacenews.com/launch/100325-lockheed-martin-atk-reintroduce-athena-rocket-line.html

[Salo]

Там же:

[Monoceros]

Интересно, по чем кило на орбите Афина1, двухступенчатая, это ж тот же Falcon1, только на твердом топливе

[Salo]

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1003/25athena/

Athena rocket reborn under aerospace industry alliance
BY STEPHEN CLARK
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: March 25, 2010

Lockheed Martin and ATK announced Thursday the small Athena rocket program is being restarted to send light military satellites to orbit, primarily from launch sites in Florida and Alaska.

   
File photo of an Athena 1 rocket launch from Kodiak Island, Alaska. Credit: NASA
 
The solid-fueled rocket flew seven times between 1995 and 2001, but the Athena has been grounded for nearly nine years, mainly because of the shrinking market for small satellites.

"We put the vehicle in what I call a hot standby mode after the last time we flew," said Al Simpson, Lockheed Martin's Athena program manager. "The two companies have decided to team together and reintroduce the program with some modernization."

The companies are restarting the project to compete for light military satellite launches, a market currently dominated by the Minotaur rocket family that uses retired strategic missile components.

"The Athena launch vehicle family offers low-risk, reliable launch services at an affordable price," said John Karas, Lockheed Martin's vice president and general manager of human spaceflight. "Athena combines both companies' heritage and expertise in launch systems, and makes key system upgrades to provide an enhanced product, skill set and performance capabilities to meet market needs."

The new Athena rocket will use a Castor 30 upper stage being designed for the Orbital Sciences Taurus 2 vehicle. The Castor 30 motor will replace the Orbus 21D motor used on earlier Athenas.

A Castor 120 first stage motor and a Castor 30 second stage will make up the new Athena 1c rocket. The more powerful Athena 2c configuration will feature Castor 120 first and second stages, plus a Castor 30 third stage motor. The Castor 120 has flown on Athena and Taurus rockets before.

ATK builds the Castor motors that will power the Athena rocket.

The Athena 2c will be capable of lifting up to 3,775 pounds to low Earth orbit, according to a Lockheed Martin statement. Lockheed Martin is also upgrading the Athena rocket's avionics.

Simpson said the Athena will likely be based at Cape Canaveral, Fla., and Kodiak Island, Alaska. The launch sites would provide access to low-inclination and polar orbits, respectively. Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., and Wallops Island, Va., would be other options.

The Athena rocket previously launched from Cape Canaveral, Kodiak and Vandenberg.

Complex 46 would be the home of the Athena 1c and Athena 2c rockets at Cape Canaveral. The state-run pad hosted two Athena launches in 1998 and 1999, but it hasn't been used since then.

"We helped the state develop that pad. We flew off there twice. It's a very familiar pad, so we're absolutely interested in going back there," Simpson said. "Being solid rocket motor based, we don't have a lot of ground system infrastructure that's required like a liquid rocket would [need]."

Space Florida, the state government's aerospace development agency, has a license to outfit the launch pad for commercial launch providers. Space Florida has already conducted corrosion control and maintenance work on Complex 46's mobile gantry, but more activities are necessary before the pad is ready for operations again.

"Space Florida is looking at working with us on that issue," Simpson said. "It really is a fairly straightforward thing for us to go back there."


File photo of an Athena 2 launch from Cape Canaveral, Fla. Credit: NASA
 
Lockheed Martin estimates about 75 workers will be required to ready Complex 46 for launch activities. During operations, Simpson said around 20 full-time employees will be based in Florida, but that number will surge to about 50 workers during launch campaigns.

Simpson said internal studies show the Athena would be cost-competitive with the Minotaur family, even though the Minotaur takes advantage of surplus Minuteman and Peacekeeper missile stages.

"When you do a cost comparison, we think we can be competitive," Simpson said in an interview Thursday.

The retired hardware is called government-furnished equipment, but it requires resources to store and maintain the stages, which are already packed with solid propellant.

"The new Athena family will fill an industry need for lift capability in this payload range," said Scott Lehr, ATK's vice president and general manager of strategic and commercial systems. "There is a growing need for responsive launch capabilities to serve the Department of Defense, NASA and other customer requirements."

The Pentagon's Operationally Responsive Space program is developing satellites that can be rapidly assembled and launched based on urgent tactical warfighter needs. The first operational ORS spacecraft is due for launch on a Minotaur 1 rocket this fall.

The Falcon 1 rocket operated by SpaceX also launched an ORS demonstration mission in 2008, but the booster failed to reach orbit. Peter Wegner, director of the ORS initiative, said he wanted to use a broad range of rockets for responsive satellites, including the Minotaur and Falcon families.

Wegner said in an October interview there are more than 100 available Minuteman motor stacks and approximately 44 Peacekeeper units ready to use on the Minotaur 1 and Minotaur 4 rockets, respectively.

But those stored components are aging and the military plans to phase out the Minotaur by around 2017.

The Minotaur has led the U.S. small launch market for the last decade. The flight rate of the air-launched Pegasus rocket has declined over that period, and the workhorse launcher has just one contract on its manifest.

"By reintroducing the Athena, and with its small lift performance range, we think we have a product offering that our customers would be interested in to serve their needs of the future," Simpson said.

Potential customers are interested in the Athena rocket, according to Simpson. He said the sales focus is on military and civil government demands.

"We have received a very positive response," Simpson said. "We're in active negotiations with several customers right now. There is a certain degree of familiarity with the Athena product line from when we flew before."

[Salo]

Интересно, по чем кило на орбите Афина1, двухступенчатая, это ж тот же Falcon1, только на твердом топливе

Там небольшая жидкостная третья ступень довыведения.

[Salo]

http://www.lockheedmartin.com/us/news/press-releases/2012/march/0302-ss-athena.html

Lockheed Martin Selects Alaska's Kodiak Launch Complex To Support Future Athena Launches[/size]

DENVER, March 2, 2012 – – Lockheed Martin Corporation [NYSE] announced today that it has chosen Alaska's Kodiak Launch Complex (KLC) as its dedicated West Coast launch facility for Athena rocket launches.  The company's decision will enable Alaska Aerospace Corporation to move ahead with plans to expand its space launch capabilities.  Lockheed Martin has been working with the state of Alaska and Alaska Aerospace Corporation on expansion plans for the new medium–lift launch pad to support potential Athena III launches.

"Our nation needs affordable lift to meet current and projected demands at a time of declining budgets and economic pressures," said John Karas, vice president and general manager, Human Space Flight, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company.  "The leadership demonstrated by Governor Sean Parnell by investing in space launch infrastructure is a model for our nation and provides tremendous incentive to partner with the state and expand the aerospace industry in Alaska."

Last year, Lockheed Martin announced its intent to offer Athena II services with a ride-share launch from Kodiak in late 2013.  The company is positioned to expand the Athena II program as it continues to evaluate the business case for Athena III launches from Alaska.  The Athena III would be capable of launching satellites weighing 4,600 kg (10,150 lbs) from the West Coast and 5,900 kg (13, 000 lbs) from the East Coast.

Working with the Alaska Aerospace Corporation, Lockheed Martin will finalize its plans for Athena III over the next few months.  The new medium-lift capability from Kodiak will enable the company to engage Alaska businesses as future suppliers benefiting the state and the Athena launch program, as well as the opportunity to engage future generations of engineers and scientists through Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) outreach.

"We are very pleased at the opportunity to expand our relationship with Lockheed Martin as we pursue medium-lift launches out of Kodiak," said Dale Nash, chief executive officer, Alaska Aerospace Corporation.  "Lockheed Martin has been involved with Alaska Aerospace for more than a decade, beginning with the NASA Kodiak Star Athena I launch in 2001.  As we move forward together, we anticipate regular launches of Athena rockets from KLC.  This will benefit both the nation and Alaska as work content and the associated jobs develop within the state."

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs about 123,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The Corporation's net sales for 2011 were $46.5 billion.[/size]

[Pol]

http://www.satnews.com/cgi-bin/story.cgi?number=325065887

March 05, 2012

Lockheed Martin... Connecting With Kodiak

Lockheed Martin has selected Alaska's Kodiak Launch Complex (KLC) as its dedicated...
...West Coast launch facility for Athena rocket launches. The company's decision will enable Alaska Aerospace Corporation to move ahead with plans to expand its space launch capabilities. Lockheed Martin has been working with the state of Alaska and Alaska Aerospace Corporation on expansion plans for the new medium-lift launch pad to support potential Athena III launches.

"Our nation needs affordable lift to meet current and projected demands at a time of declining budgets and economic pressures," said John Karas, vice president and general manager, Human Space Flight, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company. "The leadership demonstrated by Governor Sean Parnell by investing in space launch infrastructure is a model for our nation and provides tremendous incentive to partner with the state and expand the aerospace industry in Alaska."
Last year, Lockheed Martin announced its intent to offer Athena II services with a ride-share launch from Kodiak in late 2013. The company is positioned to expand the Athena II program as it continues to evaluate the business case for Athena III launches from Alaska. The Athena III would be capable of launching satellites weighing 4,600 kg (10,150 lbs) from the West Coast and 5,900 kg (13, 000 lbs) from the East Coast. Working with the Alaska Aerospace Corporation, Lockheed Martin will finalize its plans for Athena III over the next few months.

The new medium-lift capability from Kodiak will enable the company to engage Alaska businesses as future suppliers benefiting the state and the Athena launch program, as well as the opportunity to engage future generations of engineers and scientists through Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) outreach.

Alaska Aerospace's Kodiak Launch Complex

Athena launch vehicle

[Salo]

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=28231.msg882426#msg882426

Looking at "Athena 3" again after a couple of years, I've re-dug up ATK's catalog information to produce the following model.

Stage 1 (2.5 seg SRB)
Mp = 344 tonnes
Mtot = 393 tonnes
T liftoff = 726 tonnes
T avg = 839 tonnes
T tail = 635 tonnes
ISP avg ~ 260 sec

Stage 2 (Castor 120)
Mp = 49 tonnes
Mtot = 53 tonnes
T = 164 tonnes
ISP = 286 sec

Stage 3 (Castor 30XL - estimate)
Mp = 23 tonnes
Mtot = 25 tonnes
T = 51 tonnes
ISP = 300 sec

Stage 4 (OAM)
Mp = 0.434 tonnes
Mtot = 0.6 tonnes
T = 0.09 tonnes
ISP = 222 sec

Payload Fairing (estimate)
M = 0.9 tonnes
separated after Stage 2 burn

Liftoff mass would be about 480 tonnes with payload, resulting in a liftoff T/W of greater than 1.51.

This rocket can produce 9,247 meters/sec ideal delta-v with a 7.2 tonne payload, sufficient for a 28.5 deg LEO from Cape Canaveral.  It can make 9,650 meters per second delta-v with a 5.9 tonne payload, which would be about enough for a polar orbit from Kodiak.  Note that these numbers differ substantially from the values reported in the Lockheed Martin press release (which said 4.6 tonnes from Kodiak, 5.9 tonnes from an East Coast pad), which has me scratching my head more than just a bit.  Perhaps Castor 30XL is not part of the plan, as the original COTS rocket (see attached image) apparently used the less-powerful Castor 30.  Non-tailored SRB segments may be part of the plan, which would change the Stage 1 numbers significantly.  (A two-segment RSRM, Castor 120, Castor 30 XL, OAM lines up with the press release numbers.)  Lockheed may be tweaking this thing, etc..

There would be a coast between the Stage 2 and 3 burns.  OAM "as-is" would  provide the final 125 meters/sec (or so) delta-v, but a scaled up OAM might be needed to provide the same ~250 m/s when used by Athena 2.  An escape or GTO type mission would have to add a kick motor atop the OAM stage.  OAM would provide the guidance and spin-up.  A typical solid motor kick stage arrangement would limit GTO payload to less than 2.4 tonnes or so.  

It should be obvious that this booster could be coupled with a different upper stage setup to lift much more payload if desired.

 - Ed Kyle[/size]

[Петр Зайцев]

Вот бы пустить упрямство Тиохола на мирные цели. Но нет, мы ехшце долго будем слышать про SRB.

[Salo]

Тиохол и мирные цели? :wink:

[SpaceR]

Вот бы пустить упрямство Тиохола на мирные цели. Но нет, мы ехшце долго будем слышать про SRB.

Почему же упрямство? Нормальный прагматичный подход.
Имеется дорогое и в создании, и в обслуживании оборудование - соответственно и естественное желание загрузить его по полной.
Вон с Castor-120 у них вполне получилось...

[Salo]

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/lockheed-considers-viability-of-resurrected-athena-small-satellite-launcher-programme-376581/

Lockheed considers viability of resurrected Athena small satellite launcher programme

By: Zach Rosenberg Los Angeles
03:00 18 Sep 2012

A decision is expected soon from Lockheed Martin regarding whether to continue to resurrect the Athena programme, a small satellite launcher discontinued in 2001.

"It's currently in the works, and we would expect a decision probably by the end of the year," says Gregory Kehrl, Lockheed's Athena mission manager. "It's not a very fast process in a company as big as Lockheed. Our portfolio is very broad."

The series of launch vehicles was conceived, developed and built by Lockheed on internal funding to capture a burgeoning market for small satellites, and particularly for large constellations for satellite internet providers. The collapse of that market, the emergence of strong competition and a catastrophic 1999 launch failure led the company to pull the plug.

"Athena was put into soft standby after the Kodiak Star mission because there was just not a demonstrated strong pull from customers," says Kehrl. "We put it into soft standby, not ever intending to divest or get out of the business, but to wait until the time was right to bring back the small launch service."

There is a single Athena I in storage, plus a number of spare parts.

The reintroduction is largely built on what Lockheed sees as the emergence of a government smallsat market, says Kehrl. The US government appears to be moving towards smaller satellites, and a number of government-sponsored smallsats have been launched in recent years.

Athena would, however, re-enter a crowded marketplace. While some competing programmes - SpaceX's Falcon and Orbital Sciences' Taurus, among others - either have or appear at imminent risk of ending, a number of new competitors such as Virgin Galactic's LauncherOne have sprung up to fill the void.

To keep the programme sustainable, Lockheed would need two to three launches annually, plus more for the larger, as-yet unbuilt Athena III. At a price point of around $70 million for an Athena II, Lockheed would "like to fly four times [a year], like everybody would in this business, [although] it's probably not fantastically realistic", says Kehrl.

"Neither of those products [would] really [be] brought back on strictly a commercial viability basis because, let's face it, everybody knows the launch services business is really not exploding like crazy," he adds, "but there's a steady need for reliable products."

[instml]

Alaska Aerospace Selects Lockheed Martin for Kodiak Launches
by Jeff Foust — December 12, 2014 - See more at: http://spacenews.com/alaska-aerospace-selects-lockheed-martin-for-kodiak-launches/



WASHINGTON — Alaska Aerospace Corp. has sel ected Lockheed Martin to use a renovated launch pad at the Kodiak Launch Complex for the company's Athena 2S launch vehicle, the state-owned corporation announced Dec. 12.

Alaska Aerospace sel ected Lockheed Martin from four proposals it received in November to provide medium-lift launch services fr om the spaceport. The state was offering up to $25 million, appropriated by the state legislature in 2012, to companies willing to using Kodiak for launches of their vehicles.

The Athena 2S will use Launch Pad 1 at Kodiak, which was damaged in a failed test of the U.S. Army's Advanced Hypersonic Weapon in August. Repairs to the launch pad, paid for out of the state's insurance plan, are underway, Alaska Aerospace president and chief executive Craig Campbell said in a Dec. 12 interview.

Upgrades to the pad to support the Athena 2S will be incorporated into those pad repairs, at an estimated cost of $3 million to $5 million, Campbell said. That work will be completed by October 2015.

The upgrades will be paid out of the $25 million, he said, with the option to use the remaining funds to develop an integration facility in Anchorage to support Athena launches and other aerospace activity, which Lockheed Martin included in its proposal.

"We think we've got a very good team now for medium-lift capability at the Kodiak Launch Complex," Campbell said.

Lockheed Martin has yet to announce any customers for the Athena 2S, a version of the company's Athena 2 solid-propellant launch vehicle that adds up to six strap-on boosters to place payloads weighing up to 3,000 kilograms into sun-synchronous orbits. The first launches fr om Kodiak would take place in late 2016 or early 2017, according to the company.

"We are pursuing several opportunities for our first launch out of Kodiak, and we hope to make an announcement in the very near future," Steve Skladanek, president of Lockheed Martin Commercial Launch Services, said Dec. 12.

[silentpom]

забавно.  а зачем для афины такая башня? на фотке в вики там один столбик всего

[instml]

Обслуживать РН. Башня вращается.