Differences between revisions 13 and 26 (spanning 13 versions)

High Apogee Construction Orbit

Mission summary, 1 stellar day construction orbit . . spreadsheet
Mission Segment	duration	perigee	apogee	v_p	v_a	South perigee	entry Δv
	seconds	km	km	km/s	km/s	inclination	km/s
Loop launch, 80 km, 30 m/s²	340	6428	6458	0.471	10.667	8°	10.196
Climb to 238200 km	41657	6458	75950	10.667	0.906	8°	0.000
Construction orbit (months)	86164*N	8378	75950	9.258	1.021	8°	0.114
Transfer orbit 1	69057	39500	75950	3.644	1.894	8°	0.873
Transfer orbit 2	21610	39500	45008	3.279	2.877	8°	0.366
circular GEO	permanent	42164	42164	3.075	3.075	0°	0.906

The very low cost of loop launch into high apogee orbits enables the assembly of large spacecraft and structures from 5 tonne components. If the apogee is very high, then a small Δv at apogee can raise the perigee of the orbit well above relatively crowded LEO orbits. For this discussion, assume 2000 km perigee altitude is adequate, and a 1 stellar day delivery cycle, hence a 84328 km -(6378+2000 km) = 75950 km apogee.

Launch from the Loop

The launch loop will be located south of the equator for gentle and steady weather. 8 degrees south latitude, east of French Polynesia and west of South America may be the best region for launch loop deployments.

The earth rotates once per stellar day (relative to the fixed stars) every 86164.0989 seconds. The launch loop rotates under the perigee of an orbit at exactly this rate. In order to add another component to an orbiting assembly, it should be launched as the assembly is near perigee, overhead, timed within milliseconds. This can only happen if perigee is synchronized with the Earth's stellar day rotation, with corrections for tidal effects and the equatorial bulge.'

The minimum launch loop is designed for 5 tonne vehicles at a 45 second cadence. We will presume one vehicle per 5 stellar day cycle. All components will need some initial thrust to raise perigee above LEO. At the first apogee, the initial perigee radius of 6378+80 = 6458 km is raised to 8378 km with a relatively small and inexpensive thrust package.

The first component of the assembly will be a thrust platform, with enough precision ΔV capability to rendezvous with subsequent components.

MoreLater

Note: While it may be possible to group the vehicles more closely than 45 seconds, each payload adds tension and deflection to the track, which is maximum at low speed near west station. Tight grouping will increase stress over the entire track, and reduce total throughput. In 45 seconds, the earth turns 0.19 degrees, and apogee "turns" 780 kilometers. Since higher orbits are slower orbits, it may be possible to send a string of vehicles to a series of cascaded higher orbits that intersect the construction orbit at somewhat higher velocities, and maneuver them towards rendezvous a few orbits later, permitting higher total througput during a multimonth construction program. I'll leave such complexities to future misssion designers.

-  ⇤ ← Revision 13 as of 2018-03-31 20:52:43 → 
  Size: 3781
  Editor: KeithLofstrom
  Comment:
+   ← Revision 26 as of 2018-04-01 19:04:51 → ⇥
  Size: 4054
  Editor: KeithLofstrom
  Comment:
-Deletions are marked like this.
+Additions are marked like this.
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-||<-8> Mission summary, 5 stellar day (s.d.) construction orbit . . . . [[ attachment:construction5.ods | spreadsheet ]]     ||
|| Mission Segment              || duration     || perigee || apogee   || v,,p,,    ||  v,,a,,  || South perigee || entry Δv ||
||                              || s.d. or sec  ||<)>  km  ||<)> km    ||<)> m/s    ||<)> m/s   || inclination   ||<)> m/s   ||
|| [[ #11 | Loop launch, 80 km, 30 m/s² ]] ||<)>        x  ||<)>  6428 ||<)>   6458 ||<)> 0.471 ||<)> x ||<)> 8° ||<)>    x  ||
|| [[ #21 | Climb to 238200 km          ]] ||<)>        x  ||<)>  6458 ||<)> 238200 ||<)> x     ||<)> x ||<)> 8° ||<)>    0  ||
|| [[ #31 | Construction orbit (months) ]] ||<)> 5*n s.d.  ||<)>  8378 ||<)> 238200 ||<)> x     ||<)> x ||<)> 8° ||<)>    x  ||
|| [[ #41 | Transfer orbit              ]] ||<)>         x ||<)>  8378 ||<)> 212200 ||<)> x     ||<)> x ||<)> 8° ||<)>    x  ||
|| [[ #51 | circular GEO                ]] ||<)> permanent ||<)> 42164 ||<)>  42164 ||<)> x     ||<)> x ||<)> 0° ||<)>    x  ||
+||<-8> Mission summary, 1 stellar day construction orbit . . [[ attachment:construction5b.ods | spreadsheet ]]     ||
|| Mission Segment              || duration || perigee || apogee   || v,,p,,    ||  v,,a,,  || South perigee || entry Δv ||
||                              ||  seconds ||<)>  km  ||<)> km    ||<)> km/s   ||<)> km/s  || inclination   ||<)> km/s  ||
|| [[ #11 | Loop launch, 80 km, 30 m/s² ]] ||<)>    340  ||<)>  6428 ||<)>  6458 ||<)> 0.471 ||<)> 10.667 ||<)> 8° ||<)> 10.196 ||
|| [[ #21 | Climb to 238200 km          ]] ||<)>  41657  ||<)>  6458 ||<)> 75950 ||<)> 10.667 ||<)> 0.906 ||<)> 8° ||<)>  0.000 ||
|| [[ #31 | Construction orbit (months) ]] ||<)> 86164*N ||<)>  8378 ||<)> 75950 ||<)>  9.258 ||<)> 1.021 ||<)> 8° ||<)>  0.114 ||
|| [[ #41 | Transfer orbit 1            ]] ||<)>  69057  ||<)> 39500 ||<)> 75950 ||<)>  3.644 ||<)> 1.894 ||<)> 8° ||<)>  0.873 ||
|| [[ #46 | Transfer orbit 2            ]] ||<)>  21610  ||<)> 39500 ||<)> 45008 ||<)>  3.279 ||<)> 2.877 ||<)> 8° ||<)>  0.366 ||
|| [[ #51 | circular GEO              ]] ||<)> permanent ||<)> 42164 ||<)> 42164 ||<)>  3.075 ||<)> 3.075 ||<)> 0° ||<)>  0.906 ||
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+Line 15:
-The low cost of launch into high apogee orbits enables the assembly of large spacecraft from 5 tonne components.  If the apogee is very high, then a small Δv at apogee can raise the perigee of the orbit well above relatively crowded LEO orbits.  For this discussion, assume 2000 km altitude is adequate, and a 5 stellar day delivery cycle, hence a [[ http://launchloop.com/StellarDayOrbits || 244597 ]] apogee.
+The very low cost of loop launch into high apogee orbits enables the assembly of large spacecraft and structures from 5 tonne components.  If the apogee is very high, then a small Δv at apogee can raise the perigee of the orbit well above relatively crowded LEO orbits.  For this discussion, assume 2000 km perigee altitude is adequate, and a 1 stellar day delivery cycle, hence a [[ http://launchloop.com/StellarDayOrbits | 84328 km ]] -(6378+2000 km) = 75950 km apogee.
-Line 21:
+Line 22:
-The launch loop will be located south of the equator for gentle and steady weather.  8 degrees south latitude, east of French Polynesia and the west coast of South America may be the best region for launch loop deployments.
+The launch loop will be located south of the equator for gentle and steady weather.  8 degrees south latitude, east of French Polynesia and west of South America may be the best region for launch loop deployments.
-Line 23:
+Line 24:
-The earth rotates once per stellar day (relative to the fixed stars) every 86174.0989 seconds.   The launch loop rotates under the perigee of an orbit at exactly this rate.  In order to add another component to an orbiting assembly, it should be launched as the assembly is near perigee, overhead, timed within milliseconds.  This can only happen if perigee is synchronized with the Earth's stellar day rotation, with corrections for tidal effects and the equatorial bulge.'
+The earth rotates once per stellar day (relative to the fixed stars) every [[ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth%27s_rotation#Stellar_and_sidereal_day | 86164.0989 seconds ]].   The launch loop rotates under the perigee of an orbit at exactly this rate.  In order to add another component to an orbiting assembly, it should be launched as the assembly is near perigee, overhead, timed within milliseconds.  This can only happen if perigee is synchronized with the Earth's stellar day rotation, with corrections for tidal effects and the equatorial bulge.'
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+Line 35:
-=== Climb to 238200 km ===
+=== Ballistic Orbit to 238200 km ===

Diff for "HighApogeeConstruction"

High Apogee Construction Orbit

Launch from the Loop

Ballistic Orbit to 238200 km

Construction orbit

Transfer orbit

Circular GEO