Small Space Launch: Origins and Challenges

The United States Space Situational Awareness capability continues to be a key element in obtaining and maintaining the high ground in space. Space Situational Awareness satellites are critical enablers for integrated air, ground and sea operations, and play an essential role in fighting and winning conflicts. The United States leads the world space community in spacecraft payload systems from the component level into spacecraft, and in the development of constellations of spacecraft. The United States position is founded upon continued government investment in research and development in space technology 1, which is clearly reflected in the Space Situational Awareness capabilities and the longevity of these missions. In the area of launch systems that support Space Situational Awareness, despite the recent development of small launch vehicles, the United States launch capability is dominated by an old, unresponsive and relatively expensive set of launchers 1 in the Expandable, Expendable Launch Vehicles EELV platforms Delta IV and Atlas V. The EELV systems require an average of six to eight months from positioning on the launch table until liftoff 3. Access to space requires maintaining a robust space transportation capability, founded on a rigorous industrial and technology base. The downturn of commercial space launch service use has undermined, for the time being, the ability of industry to recoup its significant investment in current launch systems. This has effectively precluded industry from sustaining a balanced robust industrial and technology base to sufficiently meet all United States Government spacelift needs 2. The reduction of resources to the Department of Defense and the Air Force, coupled by the long launch preparation periods have further resulted in less operationally responsive spacelift capability from new launch systems.