The Space Congress® Proceedings 1983 (20th) Space: The Next Twenty Years Apr 1st, 8:00 AM Future Requirements and Applications for Orbital Transfer Vehicles D. E. Charhut General Dynamics Convair Division, San Diego, California W. J. Ketchum General Dynamics Convair Division, San Diego, California Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.erau.edu/space-congress-proceedings Scholarly Commons Citation Charhut, D. E. and Ketchum, W. J., "Future Requirements and Applications for Orbital Transfer Vehicles" (1983). The Space Congress® Proceedings. 1. https://commons.erau.edu/space-congress-proceedings/proceedings-1983-20th/session-iic/1 This Event is brought to you for free and open access by the Conferences at Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Space Congress® Proceedings by an authorized administrator of Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. FUTURE REQUIREMENTS AND APPLICATIONS FOR ORBITAL TRANSFER VEHICLES By: D.E. Charhut* W.J. Ketchum** General Dynamics Convair Division San Diego, California ABSTRACT — Storage/reconstitution — Threat avoidance/defense The capability of the Space Shuttle will be enhanced by use of the high-energy Centaur to provide payload High OTV performance (through high I Sp and low transfer to higher orbits (geosynchronous, etc.) and vehicle weight) minimizes propellants and maximizes for planetary escape missions. Future orbital transfer payload. Hydrogen-oxygen is currently the highest vehicles (OTV) requirements for NASA, military, and performing chemical combustion rocket propulsion commercial exploitation of space will require system (50% higher ISp than solids or storables). Cen taur (Figure 1) is being incorporated improvements and technological developments into the Space such Transportation System (STS) to take advantage of as increased performance, increased reliability, and this in the near future at affordable cost, and methods increased mission versatility.