Reducing the Cost of Launching Small Satellites: A Perspective from the Field

The Rocket Systems Launch program (RSLP), SMC Det 12/RP, AFSPC, has been working to reduce the cost of launching small R&D satellites since 1995. This effort started when RSLP assumed responsibility for the Pegasus XL Small Launch Vehicle (SLV) program in 1995. The Air Force Small Launch Vehicle (AFSLV) program provided Pegasus XL launch support to the DoD Space Test Program (STP). RSLP launched the Radiation Experiment II (REX II) in 1996 and the Fast On orbit Recording of Transient Events (FORTE) and Space Test Experiments Platform Mission 4 (STEP-M4) satellites in 1997 using Pegasus XLs. RSLP transferred the Standard Small Launch Vehicle (SSLV) program from DARPA in 1997 and used it to launch the Space Test Experiment (STEX) satellite in 1998 and the Multi-spectral Thermal Imager (MTI) satellite in 2000. These launches used Taurus vehicles and represented the first time that RSLP attempted to use surplus ICBM assets to reduce space launch costs. Each of these missions used an excess Peacekeeper Stage 1 to replace the Castor 120 commercial Taurus Stage 0 resulting in a $6M (30%) savings per mission. RSLP continued pursuing its goal to provide low-cost, reliable spacelift for the R&D community by reusing surplus Minuteman II boosters to reduce the cost of launching small satellites. In 1997, RSLP awarded a contract to develop and fly the Minotaur SLV. This vehicle used Minuteman and Pegasus boosters to provide lower cost, reliable spacelift. The Minotaur SLV represented a two-fold decrease in the cost-per-mass-to-orbit equation over contemporary commercial SLVs and lifted the Joint Academy Weber State SATellite (JAWSAT) and MightySat II.1 satellites in 2000. RSLP placed the Peacekeeper derived SLV (PKSLV) on contract in 2003. This vehicle can lift three times the mass that the Minotaur can lift for a similar price and represents a six-fold decrease in the cost-permass- to-orbit equation over contemporary commercial launch vehicles. This paper provides a historical perspective on the cost of launching small satellites from the RSL