Air Force, NASA and Commercial Cooperation in Establishing a Robust Space Infrastructure

Snead, James Michael; Hammond, Walter E.

doi:10.1061/40339(206)79

Cited by 2 publications

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“…Orbit-based spaceplanes would extend the RLV "airline-like" transportation network into circumterrestrial space to connect spaceports with co-orbiting space facilities and clusters of similar facilities in different low Earth orbits. 4 Spaceplanes, as this new capability matures, would be used to transport people and materiel to higher earth orbits for satellite maintenance, repair, and recovery. Eventually, they could also ferry exploration crews back to the Moon and support the exploration of near-Earth asteroids and comets to search for needed natural resources, primarily water for propellants and life support.…”

Section: Spaceplanesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Astral Highway: A National Space Infrastructure

Snead¹

2000

Space 2000

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Section: Spaceplanesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is far less expensive, even for aerospace systems, to build the systems on the ground and launch them fully or substantially assembled into orbit 4. The nomenclature "spaceplane" is used to draw upon the essential characteristics of safety, reliability, and operability inherent in modern aircraft.…”

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The Astral Highway: A National Space Infrastructure

Snead¹

2000

Space 2000

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A proposed implementation strategy for building a shared space infrastructure

Snead¹,

Hammond²

1998

AIAA Defense and Civil Space Programs Conference and Exhibit

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This paper describes an achievable and affordable approach for building a shared space infrastructure. This infrastructure will benefit all three space sectorscommercial, civil and national defense-by providing new and enhanced shared capabilities that will improve the safety, reliability and affordability of their robotic and human space operations.The proposed Phase 1A (2000-2017) infrastructure will be comprised of commercial Reusable Launch Vehicles; a Shuttle-derived, unmanned, heavy-lift launch system; four low Earth orbit (LEO) spaceports; spaceport-based interorbit transports capable of reaching geosynchronous orbit; and, an in-space logistics support capability. During Phase 1B (2018)(2019)(2020)(2021)(2022)(2023)(2024)(2025), the infrastructure expands the size of the LEO spaceports to accommodate specialized user needs, adds new Earth-to-orbit low cost launch systems for durable cargo, adds upgraded interorbit transports to provide support lunar and deep space exploration, and adds first-generation interplanetary spaceships to extend routine transportation to lunar orbit. This space infrastructure will also be capable of supporting a manned Mars exploration program and robotic probes to near-Earth asteroids and comets. This paper focuses on a strategy for building and financing this shared space infrastructure. Specifically, it describes an acquisition strategy for Phase 1A that effectively uses current space technology and infrastructure capabilities to reduce programmatic risk and enables achieving an initial operational capability in 2012. Further, it describes an approach for financing the fabrication and operation of the Phase 1A infrastructure and covering necessary transportation transition costs using funds already budgeted for in the present government spacelift budget.

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Air Force, NASA and Commercial Cooperation in Establishing a Robust Space Infrastructure

Cited by 2 publications

References 0 publications

The Astral Highway: A National Space Infrastructure

The Astral Highway: A National Space Infrastructure

A proposed implementation strategy for building a shared space infrastructure

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