Small Launcher Services for Agility in Space
Creators: name:  F. MAROQUENE FROISSART 
name:   A. JOST 
Publisher: name: Proceedings of  the 9th European Conference for Aerospace Sciences. Lille, France, 27 June - 1 July, 2022
Year: 2022
Subjects: FUTURE SPACE OPERATIONS

description: NewSpace is turning to be a new era for the Space Market as actors are initiating new projects and innovations to democratise access to space. It is driving for more affordable and agile approach to develop space systems and services : Solutions must be found to foster the growth of NewSpaces activities while proposing sustainable and affordable services. To address the needs of the evolving space market, it is crucial to redefine transportation and launch systems with agile and reusable launchers but also to think of initiating a full range of services and additional systems to support the development of small launchers. NewSpace is also changing the space sector by fostering global cooperation with space and especially non-space industries, so it can be highly beneficial to aim for new partnerships and activies. Regarding the space market, small launchers are perfectly addressing the evolving needs of satellites constructors and operators : To launch multiple payloads quickly and at low-cost. Indeed, small launchers are faster to produce, easier to transport and more affordable to launch with. One of the main advantages of small launchers could be the opportunity to launch from multiple launching sites depending on missions profiles : It could be launching from a classic pad like Kourou in French Guiana but also on offshore platforms or northern sites for better SSO performances for example. With a greater production capacity, it is also possible to aim for higher launch rate than heavier launchers like Ariane 5 and to target up to 10 launches per year. The development of a launchers family could also be highly beneficial with lower development and production costs : By considering a simple launcher as a base, it is possible to upgrade it with additional standard boosters to propose more powerful versions and a greater variety of missions profiles. Developing additional launchers would allow to address a wider share of the market and propose various services as dedicated, piggyback or rideshare launches for the most powerful versions of the launchers family. To guarantee multiple missions profiles as those, it is recommended to provide multiple fairings shape, adaptors, dispensers and even kick-stages to propose various services depending on the client\'s needs. Furthermore, to support a more sustainable access to space, it is highly recommended to aim for 100% reusable launchers to minimise space pollution and avoid collision risks in orbit. The development of a standard reuse system for various small launchers could foster cooperation between space actors and be the opportunity to aim for 100% recovery at a global scale for small launchers. With NewSpaces evolution, sustainability and affordability have become crucial for the development of solutions and services to access space. Commercialising various and agile services could be the opportunity to foster the development of reusable small launchers at a global scale. At Sirius Space Services, the project development is inherent to the space market evolution and requirements : The company is focusing on commercialising affordable and agile services to access space by developing a family of launchers, high part systems and a standard reuse kit for small launchers recovery. The presentation will be about determining the challenges of developing new systems and services and identifying solutions to address a large variety of actors.