Hypersonic inlet for a laser powered propulsion system and its interaction with an idealized laser induced detonation wave

The idea of laser powered lightcraft was first conceptualised in the early 1970’s as a means of launching small scale satellite payloads into orbit at a much lower cost in comparison to conventional techniques. Recently interest has been renewed in this innovative technology. Propulsion is produced via laser induced detonation of an incoming hypersonic air stream. This process requires suitable engine configurations that offer good performance over all flight speeds and angles of attack to ensure the required thrust is maintained. Stream traced hypersonic inlets have demonstrated the required performance in conventional hydrocarbon fuelled scramjet engines, and has been applied to the laser powered lightcraft vehicle. This paper will outline the current methodology, with a particular focus on the interaction between the laser induced detonation wave and the resulting inlet. An idealised computational fluid dynamics simulation has been produced to approximate the thrust produced by the detonation and it’s interaction with the vehicle. The performance of the lightcraft inlet has also been evaluated