Analysis of Range Safety Boundary for Spacelift Range Link Analysis

J.C. Chen, C.C. Wang, D.A. Taggart, J. Yoh, Y.Y. Krikorian, N.N. Elyashar, M.M. Cutler

Abstract:	A frequently asked question in the Spacelift Range Systems has been: What is the range safety boundary for a launch vehicle trajectory? The range safety boundary for a launch vehicle trajectory can be defined as the instant in time when the vehicle instantaneous impact point (IIP) leaves the Earth's surface, and the launch vehicle enters a stable orbit. After the vehicle passes the range safety boundary, it will no longer return to the Earth even if it stops thrusting. The range safety boundary is critical to the range safety authority because a vehicle that passes the boundary poses no immediate threat to the Earth's population. A simple algorithm is utilized to compute the range safety boundary. Based on the instantaneous position and velocity of a launch vehicle, a set of orbital parameters for the instantaneous orbit can be determined. The perigee altitude and eccentricity of the instantaneous orbit are used to determine the range safety boundary. The range safety boundary will separate the range safety portion and non-range safety portion of a flight trajectory, on which different link margin requirements can be applied. A software tool based on this algorithm has been developed and utilized to determine the range safety boundaries for selected launch vehicle trajectories. The simulation results will be presented. In addition, the algorithm has been validated using the Satellite Orbital Analysis Program (SOAP), developed by The Aerospace Corporation, which can display the vehicle trajectory and its instantaneous orbits on three-dimensional (3D) graphical
Published in:	Proceedings of the 59th Annual Meeting of The Institute of Navigation and CIGTF 22nd Guidance Test Symposium (2003) June 23 - 25, 2003 Hyatt Regency Hotel Albuquerque, NM
Pages:	449 - 455
Cite this article:	Chen, J.C., Wang, C.C., Taggart, D.A., Yoh, J., Krikorian, Y.Y., Elyashar, N.N., Cutler, M.M., "Analysis of Range Safety Boundary for Spacelift Range Link Analysis," Proceedings of the 59th Annual Meeting of The Institute of Navigation and CIGTF 22nd Guidance Test Symposium (2003), Albuquerque, NM, June 2003, pp. 449-455.
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