Office of Space Launch Atlas V Aft Bulkhead Carrier & Operationally

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Office of Space Launch Atlas V Aft Bulkhead Carrier & Operationally Unique Technologies Satellite Maj Travis Willcox Office of Space Launch

UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED Outline

Origin and Background Schedule Integration Take-aways Pros and Cons of ABC concept Lessons Learned

UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED Origin of Aft Bulkhead Carrier on Atlas V

United Launch Alliance (ULA) modified Atlas V Centaur upper stage – 3 small spherical helium tanks replaced by 2 large cylindrical tanks • Helium used to pressurize LOX and LH propellant tanks • Made approximately 20”x20”x30” available for AP

Centaur Aft Bulkhead

20” Aft Bulkhead Carrier

Auxiliary Payload 20”

Volume 34”

Large Helium Tanks 20” deep RL-10 Engine

10” UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED Atlas V with Aft Bulkhead Carrier

Primary Satellite Payload Fairing

Centaur Upper Stage Centaur Interstage Adapter

Aft Bulkhead RD-180 Carrier Engine Single RL-10 Engine

AtlasAtlas Booster V with ABC

UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED Nominal Auxiliary Payload Mission

Park Centaur MES2 Centaur MECO-2 SV Orbit Separation Fairing Centaur Main Coast Separation Engine Cutoff-1 Centaur AP Deployment: CCAM does not take place until primary Centaur Main mission is Centaur Engine Start-1 third burn to complete adjust orbit

Cubesats Deployed

Liftoff

UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED How We Got Here

Goal – accommodate auxiliary payload of the following configurations: • Non-separating PPOD’s • Separating • Non-separating that deployed pico satellites

Jul 08 Systems Requirements Review Dec 08 Preliminary Design Review Jul 09 Critical Design Review - non separating deployer SAD NPSCul Sep 09 Fit check with satellite mockup on flight Centaur vehicle Jul 10 Pathfinder operation at VAFB Sep 10 Critical Design Review – separating satellite Dec 10 Decision to pursue launch opportunity on L-36 Feb 11 Operationally Unique Technologies Satellite (OUTSat) auxiliary payload incorporated into L-36 launch integration Feb 12 OUTSat completed testing and ready for delivery Apr 12 OUTSat delivered to VAFB

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UNCLASSIFIED OUTSat Schedule

2011 2012

Jan Mar May Jul Sep Nov Jan Mar May Jul

Kickoff FEM Delivered

ULA Coupled Loads Analysis

PDR Gate 1 CDR

Gate 2 Cubesat delivery

PPOD Integration to NPSCul

OUTSat Acceptance Testing

ULA Gate 3

MRR

Deliver OUTSat to VAFB

Mate OUTsat to Centaur

Launch

UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED OUTSat Auxiliary Payload

CubeSats P-POD (Poly-Pico Orbital Deployer) NPSCuL

PPOD’s & P-PODs 8 P-PODs installed in NPSCuL (NPS, Monterey, CA) 3U Installed in P-POD (Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo)

1U SAD NPSCul

OUTSat

OUTSat Mated to the ABC Plate OUTSat installed on (Launch Site) Centaur aft bulkhead

Atlas V Centaur Upper Stage Aft End UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED ABC OUTSat CubeSat Manifest

Manifest Name Size Mission Sponsor Organization Org Re 3u NRO/MSD Space Object Tracking LLNL LLNL, NPS, TAMU

AENEAS 3u NRO/MSD Maritime Shipping Container TT&L DHS USC/ISI SMDC ONE 2.1 3u NRO/MSD Tactical BLOS Comms SMDC MilTec Corp SMDC ONE 2.2 3u NRO/MSD Tactical BLOS Comms SMDC MilTec Corp AeroCube 4.5a 1u NRO/MSD Tech Validation MDA The Aerospace Corp AeroCube 4.5b 1u NRO/MSD Tech Validation MDA The Aerospace Corp AeroCube 4 1u NRO/MSD Data Logger; De-orbit device NRO The Aerospace Corp

Monitor Accel of Radiation Belt U of Colorado CSSWE 3u NASA/LSP NSF Electrons Boulder Monitor U of California CINEMA 3u NASA/LSP NSF Ions/Nuetrals/Electrons/Magnetic Fields Berkely Validate Large Surface Area De-Orbit CP-5 1u NASA/LSP NASA Cal Poly Device Monitor Cosmic X-Ray/Gamma Ray CXBN 2u NASA/LSP NASA Morehead State U Background

UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED OSL’s OUTSat Integration Team To ensure a single POC to ULA, Range Safety, and others – OSL contracted the role of the Auxiliary Payload Integration Contractor (APIC) to Cal Poly – using NASA/LSP existing contracting mechanism. • Cal Poly teamed with SRI Inc to provide the necessary expertise to perform all of the required APIC tasks • In this role, they have two main responsibilities. Perform the integration function to deliver a fully tested OUTSat satellite to OSL for integration to the Atlas launch vehicle. Single POC for the integration of OUTSat to the Atlas launch vehicle. OSL also has a direct relationship with Naval Postgraduate School to provide the NPSCuL "bus structure" and perform final acceptance testing of the integrated OUTSat. • NPS supports the APIC in their role of integrating contractor, and as such, in some circumstances interface directly with ULA and Range Safety to provide technical details on behalf of the APIC.

UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED CubeSat to P-POD Integration

AeroCube

AENEAS CSSWE

Re CXBN and CP-5

SMDC ONE 2.2

SMDC ONE 2.1 CINEMA UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED OUTSat Integration Eight P-POD’s Integrated with the NPSCuL

UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED OUTSat Integration Eight P-POD’s Integrated with the NPSCuL

UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED OUTSat Vibration Testing

UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED CINEMA Rework

UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED Job Well Done

UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED OUTSat Testing Complete!

UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED OUTSat Transport

(U) NPS to transport OUTSat via truck from NPS to VAFB • 201 miles and four hours • OUTSat instrumented to record vibration environment enroute

UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED OUTSat Integration to Centaur

UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED Centaur Mate to Atlas – SLC 3E

UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED Centaur Mate to Atlas at SLC-3E

OUTSat Ready for Launch!

UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED OUTSat Launch

August 2 launch attempt scrubbed prior to entering terminal count at T-4 min

Rescheduling launch for early September is in-work

Launch Vehicle, Primary SV, (and OUTSat!) all remain ready to support next launch attempt

UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED Some Take-Aways

ULA very supportive, encourage rideshare • ABC concept originally proposed by ULA • All levels of technical and management personnel, up to CEO have been supportive • Meticulous, detailed evaluation – necessary to protect primary Received support from senior NRO Received support from the primary SV customer Excellent teaming experience with NASA It is possible to launch secondary payloads – even CubeSats! – on a national security mission

UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED Pros & Cons of ABC Approach

Pros • Physically/electrically separated from primary payload • Processed off-line from the primary spacecraft, not in critical path • Atlas has a full manifest, regular flights

Cons • Relatively severe predicted vibration environment • Depending on launch site, AP has to be ready to integrate 4-5 prior to launch. No access to CubeSat following integration • Depending on mission profile, auxiliary mission may prevent upper stage controlled re-entry resulting in orbital debris waiver True for any secondary configuration – not just ABC Investigate techniques to provide an additional burn/de-orbit capabilities

UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED Lessons Learned

Have enough candidate cubesats at onset of the project Integrating enough cubesats to ensure a full complement is a huge job Integration team on contract early Set “line in the sand” when no changes to manifest, key attributes Establish “Gate Criteria” that both launch vehicle and auxiliary payload must meet at appropriate off ramp opportunities Establish complete list of “do-no-harm” objectives Foster team relationship between primary SV, ULA, Air Force, NRO, APIC, and even cubesat providers Ensure an adequate mass simulator approach. For us: • Cubesat, Integrated P-POD, OUTSat alternatives Loads analyses approach ensured we flew what we analyzed (1) No auxiliary payload (2) OUTSat (3) ULA-provided hi-freq simulator

Prevented AP from providingUNCLASSIFIED a dynamically correct OUTSat simulator

UNCLASSIFIED Lessons Learned - Inhibits

Inhibits – Use them! • Consider: Power on, deployables, beacons, transmitters, payloads • Our primary SV customers – and ULA - will insist all failure scenarios are analyzed • Safety considerations Dual fault tolerant, 3 inhibits required for catastrophic events If not DFT, must analyze to confirm not catastrophic • Mission assurance - single fault tolerant, two inhibits • Lack of inhibits doesn’t mean you can’t fly, however time and money spent doing analyses may mean you won’t fly – resources are limited!

UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED Lessons Learned - Licensing

Licensing for the Auxiliary Payload(s) • Know what licenses/coordinations you need Amateur, experimental, civilian, government,” remote sensing”, etc • Know who’s involved for your particular mission IARU, FCC, NTIA, ITU, NOAA • Know the processes, paperwork, and timelines involved • For NRO sponsored launches, Office of Space Launch and our APIC will take an active role in tracking licensing progress

• As a result of weekend CubeSat Developer’s Workshop discussions and cooperative attitude of FCC, expect to be able to provide crisp and complete guidance for non federal CubeSats. Expect to confirm same with NTIA. Excellent NOAA presentation at CubeSat workshop as well

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UNCLASSIFIED Lessons Learned – Orbital Debris

Orbital Debris – huge issue with all government agencies • Spacecraft as well us upper stages • On-orbit requirements – good stewards of space • End of Life: Re-enter within 25 years and Casualty Expectation < 10-5 Specified disposal orbits Retrieval • National Space Policy defines waiver process – high visibility • For FCC license, orbital debris assessment required On orbit and Re-entry Satellite components surviving re-entry and reaching earth’s surface likely (definitely if > 15 J energy) to require insurance – it’s expensive! Consider eliminating high-melting point materials from your design

UNCLASSIFIED Lessons LearnedUNCLASSIFIED – Breaking New Ground OUTSat did fly: • Cubesat powered on at liftoff and during early ascent • Radiation sources • Lasers

How: • Detailed data available and appropriate testing • Proper inhibit schemes • Excellent work on part of APIC to work with ULA, and ULA in turn working with primary customer

UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED Conclusion

ABC designed to offer low cost, recurring launch opportunity for smallsats (up to 80kg) one of the world’s most reliable launch vehicles First use has had it’s challenges, however: • OUTSat integrated, tested, mated to the Centaur, and ready for launch • L-36 mission team and ULA satisfied - all “do-no-harm” requirements have been met Challenges definitely exist for smallsats to co-exist with high-value national security payloads – but it is doable with the right planning ABC’s future: • Near term: Take advantage of NRO missions meeting performance criteria Presently on contract for L-39 in 2013 Orbital debris considerations continue to increase in importance • Downstream: Work with Air Force to establish ABC as a standard service on applicable Atlas V missions

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