US space launches take too long and cost too much. USAF is working with NASA and industry to fix the problem. Toward Leaner Launchers By Suzann Chapman, Associate Editor I N 1982, the US had ninety percent II of the world's space-launch mar- ket, but by 1992 that figure had dropped to thirty percent as the Euro- pean Space Agency's Arianespace be- gan to take hold in the global market- place. Other countries also offered "economy" launches of their own. As part of the drive to Cost and efficiency were the driv- improve space-launch ing factors in this realignment. Ariane- operations. USAF and industry have reduced space provided launches at far lower time on the pad for cost and with a reduced cycle time medium-lift boosters, and fewer employees. The US launch such as this Atlas II, industry, with origins in 1950s-era launched from Cape intercontinental ballistic missile sys- Canaveral AS, Fla., in tems, featured long delays and man- December 1995. power-intensive operations, leading to high cost and unhappy customers. The Defense Department's 1994 Space-Launch Modernization Plan criticized the delays and lack of re- sponsiveness, noting the impact on DoD and commercial customers. That same year, Air Force Secretary Sheila E. Widnall announced a drive for more routine and affordable space- launch operations. The effort seems to be paying off for the Air Force. For one thing, USAF and the aerospace industry have managed to drive down the costs and cut the processing times on AIR FORCE Magazine/July 1996 73 today's launch systems. Some cycle Launcher Processing Times (Days) times have been slashed by more than fifty percent. In addition, they are optimistic From receipt Time on pad about the success of the latest effort to produce a new expendable launch vehicle (ELV), saying that the pro- 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 gram will pay for itself by 2010. Moreover, they said that the product 1989-92 30 /40 of the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program will help 1993-96 45 / 25 revive the US commercial launch business. 1990-94 I The Defense Department expects 2 / 87 that the EELV program will mark 1995-96 I the first serious modernization of 2 / 42 the nation' s launch vehicles and lead to reduced costs. However, until the 1988-94 60 / 90 EELV medium- and heavy-lift ver- sions come on line, the Air Force 1995-96 75 / 39 must continue to use its older ICBM- based booster force. 1989-95 116 / 108 Improving Medium, Heavy Lift 1996 37 / 128 The Air Force and industry are, in at CCAS fact, streamlining and improving 1989-95 134 / 155 operation of today' s fleet, said Col. Tommy Brazie, head of the Space 1996 0 / 155 and Missile Systems Center' s Launch at VAFB Programs System Program Office (SPO). He said that SMSC is "driv- ing with our [Air Force] Space Com- mand partners to normalize [launch] launch arena. Likewise, DoD' s At- only the 155 needed on the pad. Colo- operations." las Reliability Enhancement Program nel Brazie noted that the difference in The emphasis has been on reduc- has produced valuable advances that processing times between the two ing time on the pad for the USAF have been transferred to the com- facilities is primarily a result of medium-lift boosters—Delta II, Ti- mercial sector. Vandenberg' s use of a pad originally tan II, and Atlas II. The Air Force The Titan IV is the nation' s only designed to launch space shuttles. has improved efficiency and reduced heavy-lift ELV. It bucks the general For the Titan IV, even more than cost by conducting more of its ve- proposition that the less time on the for medium-lift vehicles, process- hicle processing at the contractor pad the better. Colonel Brazie said ing times vary greatly depending on plant and launch facility before plac- that performing tests off the pad and the complexity of the payload or the ing the booster on the pad—so-called then repeating the same tests on the particular satellite being launched. "clean vehicle" processing. pad was neither necessary nor cost- The fact that current ELVs are This change is illustrated in the effective. "We chose to eliminate tailored to meet specific payload re- chart above right. Time on the pad the off-pad testing instead of on-pad quirements, rather than employing a for Delta II boosters has dropped from [testing], so we could test the ve- standard payload interface, adds to forty days in 1989 to twenty-five in hicle in the stacked and ready-to-go cost and creates processing delays. 1993. In 1988, Titan II processing configuration," he said. Maj. Gen. David L. Vesely, com- took 150 days—sixty at the facility Titan IV has different processing mander of Air Force Space Com- and ninety on the pad. That total has requirements, which depend on its mand's 14th Air Force, oversees been cut by thirty-six days. Atlas II launch location—Cape Canaveral launch operations on both coasts. has shown even greater improvements, AS, Fla., or Vandenberg AFB, Calif. He likened the current process to shaving forty-five days from its over- (See chart above.) changing the engines on a cargo all processing time, all from on-pad Historically, preparation for Ti- aircraft each time it' s loaded or un- time. Colonel Brazie projects that on- tan IV launches at the Cape took an loaded. The General noted that, with pad processing for Atlas II will fall average of 224 days-116 at the fa- the new EELV, satellites should have by another seven days this year. cility and 108 on the pad. Now, pro- a standard interface with the booster, The Colonel noted that other effi- cessing takes 165 days, a reduction "like putting [cargo] pallets on an ciencies and savings have come from of 26.3 percent in overall cycle time. airlifter." the synergy among DoD, NASA, and At Vandenberg, processing histori- Some standardization for payloads industry. The Atlas and Delta pro- cally has averaged 289 days, with is already in the works for the latest grams in particular have benefited 155 spent on the pad. Today, that version of the Titan heavy-lift boost- from advances in the commercial time has been cut 134 days, down to er. The Titan IVB will employ mis- 74 AIR FORCE Magazine/ July 1996 sion-unique kits, providing a stan- Recent Launches dard interface for payloads to permit launch-site processing. The configuration will be the same DoD NASA Commercial as for the Titan IVA from the bottom of the rocket to the top of the pay- 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 load interface skirt. From there up, the Titan IVB will be able to be 1991 customized on the pad. "Should we have to swap payloads, 1992 there is reduced schedule impact— we save three months and have re- 1993 duced cost—about $5 million per vehicle," said Colonel Brazie. 1994 He said that other improvements 1995 to the B model include "heroic" measures, such as changing the en- 1991 tire electrical system on the booster core. The new system, which is sim- 1992 pler and more easily checked out, 1993 uses up-to-date commercial parts and should "drastically reduce process- 1994 ing times." A new ground system also uses commercial software and 1995 hardware instead of the "hodge- 1991 podge" system of the A model. The Colonel said the new ground system 1992 provides better data earlier, adding that it is much easier and less expen- 1993 sive to maintain. The Titan IVB will have twenty- 1994 five percent increased performance 1995 from its upgraded solid rocket mo- tors. The new SRMs will feature three 1991 segments instead of the current seven- segment version and will be checked 1992 out before they are mated to the core, 1993 not on the pad. USAF plans to launch the first 1994 Titan IVB from Cape Canaveral in Fiscal 1997 and from Vandenberg in 1995 Fiscal 1999. Colonel Brazie said the Air Force and Lockheed Martin, the prime con- tractor for Titan IV, continue to seek commercial access to Atlas and Delta vamp the space-launch scheduling further improvements. Telemetry and launchpads on a "noninterference" process, to establish quarterly launch data lines now run from the launch basis. reviews, and to strictly adhere to facility to Denver. The technicians Traditionally, military launches have launch windows. can work from home, saving travel outnumbered commercial launches. In "There's no quick fix, but we're costs and allowing them to be more 1994, the split changed to fifty-fifty, seeing results with our standardiza- productive if weather delays occur, and in 1995, commercial launches sur- tion efforts," he said. he continued. passed military launches. The number Another streamlining move was of commercial and civil launches is creation of Colonel Brazie' s launch- New SPO, New Thinking projected to exceed the number of program SPO. The new SPO brings In 1995, the Air Force began a military launches for the next few years. current launch vehicles under one concerted effort to reduce the cost of The Air Force has also been up- management. The Air Force expects spacelift. Secretary Widnall said the grading its launch facility infrastruc- the new launch SPO to reduce over- Air Force has "officially ended the ture under the Range Standardization head costs and foster synergy among study phase of improving our space- and Automation program. AFSPC has launch programs. launch situation, and we're aggres- invested heavily and plans to con- Colonel Brazie said he plans to sively pursuing the action phase." tinue to do so for a few more years.