N-Prize
!!! News, Kiwi 2 Space is no longer seeking the N-Prize competition (September 2011) !!!
N-Prize
Well the prize deadline has come and gone and been extended another year but is beyond our reach, I've always known it was going to be hard but it was a good initiative to get off the couch to go do something which could make a difference. And yet still could with some ideas I've had over the years. I've always been fascinated by the pump problem that smaller rockets have, more so the complexity etc. for such a small system hence why pressure fed is what you see a lot in smaller sounding rockets. I very much like Flometrics pistonless pump and think its a great idea, but every where I look I see more and more stuff electric, which is the way the world seems to be going, and with the batteries and motors these days, you have some pretty good products on the market. Its not a new idea but a small electric turbo pump for rockets is one thing I'd like to investigate more, I'm no pump man so I'm not sure what I'm getting myself into but if someone could come up with something small and powerfull like this it could change the way for smaller nano sate launchers etc. So this is one future aspiration along with many other things. But the N-Prize has been good in opening my mind and eyes on the world of amateur experimental rocketry and space in general.
I will still continue to build my big rocket, but now at my own pace.
Our approach to the N-Prize is relatively simple. (I hope!)
Our plan is to use a 4 stage, liquid fuelled rocket to reach Low Earth Orbit (LEO). This rocket will be made up of 4 high pressure modules surrounding a similar but slightly longer core module, with two extra stages on top of that. That’s a total of 7 rockets on this thing. This is a similar approach as the OTRAG concept which revolutionised rocket design and costing. Because we plan to go for the reusable vehicle prize, the 4 booster modules will be reusable and will parachute down to Earth for an ocean recovery.
Each module will be a standalone rocket in itself, with this concept being tested through the launch of a sub-orbital rocket system as a trial, which we will use as a basis for building multiple modules quickly, at relatively low cost. Through this, we anticipate to learn better systems for rocket design and build, bringing our rocket production costs down.
The 19.99g satellite will complete its orbits at a height of 200km above earth, with an inclination of 34deg. The size of the rocket will enable us to launch multiple satellites, giving us more chance of winning the prize if one of the satellites fails. This added redundancy has been incorporated into the design so the rocket still achieves the required change in velocity for orbit (Delta V). For a 200km circular orbit the satellite needs a change in velocity of 7786m/s to stop it dropping out of orbit, so the total rocket change in velocity required will be approximately 9300m/s.
A Stepped Approach
Our plan for achieving the N-Prize is based on a staged approach. Considering the magnitude of the prize, as much as we’d like to go out and build an orbital launcher tomorrow, it’s not the wisest idea. With this in mind, we are operating on a staged approach towards success.
Although this approach will cost more in research and development, it will give us valuable information and teach us what is needed to make the orbital launcher work flawlessly first time, helping us progress from the N-Prize to further development of space flight hardware.
The stages that our team is currently operating on are below. As with all plans, this is consistently being reassessed, and subject to change as trial and experimentation highlight further requirements.
- Build a multi-purpose rocket test bed for liquid propellant rocket engine testing. From this we will learn the more technical aspects of dealing with a liquid propulsion system, as well as doing design analysis of engines for our space rockets.
- Fly guidance and telemetry avionics on our smaller High Power Model rockets to evaluate systems for our space travelling rockets.
- Set up and manufacture ground support equipment, and launch platform to be used for all our smaller rocket systems, with ability to be modified for launching the N-Prize rocket.
- Build a Sub-orbital sounding rocket, using all the lessons learned in our earlier stages, and operating to tight budget constraints.
- Ground test engine of sub-orbital rocket and assess the integration of all airframe components.
- Fly the sub-orbital rocket on a smaller trajectory of approximately 10km to establish how well it flies and how all the on board avionics systems work together, for an eventual recovery. The lessons learned from this will be used for building and recovering the 4 boosters of the N-Prize launcher.
- Fly the sub-orbital rocket on a 100km high trajectory (space!), recover it and then celebrate reaching the outer atmosphere!
- Build the N-Prize launcher from lessons learned in the sub-orbital rocket program to ensure success.
