Results of QuickReach™ Small Launch Vehicle Propulsion Testing and Next Steps to Demonstration Flights

For the past four years, AirLaunch LLC has been developing the QuickReach™ Small Launch Vehicle (SLV) under the DARPA/ Air Force Falcon SLV program. The company has successfully completed Phases 1, 2A and 2B of the program. Phase 2C began in June 2007 and continues through fall of 2008. Phase 2C focuses on propulsion characterization of AirLaunch’s innovative liquid oxygen (LOX)/propane vapor pressurization (VaPak) propulsion system used on the second stage of its QuickReach™ SLPhase 2C Milestones include upgrades to hardware, instrumentation, and test stands; and a series of test fires on the Horizontal Test Stand (HTS) to gather data on engine performance and on the Vertical Test Stand (VTS) to more comprehensively characterize second stage performance. The QuickReach™ booster is designed to deliver 1,000 pounds to low earth orbit for $5 million per launch, with less than 24-hour response time. AirLaunch’s approach achieves responsiveness by flying the two-stage, pressurized QuickReach™ system inside an unmodified C-17A or other large cargo aircraft. AirLaunch has also been exploring applications of its second stage propulsion system to other launch vehicles, configurations, and markets. An air-launched rocket enables new concepts of operations (CONOPS) that lead to Operationally Responsive Spacelift (ORS) capability. This paper shares the results of Phase 2C to date and identifies various applications of AirLaunch’s propulsion technology and vehicle configurations to enable the earliest possible flight demonstration