RU2318704C2 - Tandem-arrangement space missile with reusable first stage - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: rocketry and space engineering.

SUBSTANCE: invention can be used for creating missile complexes which do not required alienation of land for falling of used first stages. Proposed missile includes cruise and control engines, fuel tanks, interstage compartment with end face frames. Oxidizer and fuel tanks of first stage consists of four vessels installed in pairs diametrically opposite for each component over periphery of multistage compartment and secured on its end face frames. Interstage compartment is divided by bottom partition into two spaces. Cruise engines of first stage are installed in lower space on end face frame, and engines of second stage are arranged in upper part. Gas generator for rapping stages is mounted on bottom-partition. Bottoms of fuel tanks of first stage can be made in form of cones in vertices of which supports for launching and takedown of missiles are mounted. Control engines of first stage are mounted mainly on fuel tanks at maximum distance from longitudinal axis of missile. Fuel partitions with cutoff valves are installed in lower part of fuel tanks. Fuel used for return and landing of first stage is kept in this part of fuel tanks. Standard heat shield is used to protect tail section of missile from engine jets at launching of missile and from aerodynamic heating at descent section.

EFFECT: provision of repeated returns and landings of first stage on space port using thrust of standard cruise and control engines of this stage.

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Description

The invention relates to rocket and space technology and can be used to create reusable missile systems that do not require the alienation of lands for fall zones of spent first stages and provide reliable and cost-effective removal of payloads in low Earth orbits.

A known design of a rocket with a reusable first stage, in which a reusable first stage is made according to an airplane scheme with the presence of aerodynamic controls, a landing gear and landing at a high horizontal speed (Cosmonautics News, No. 10, 2004, pp. 39-40).

The disadvantage of this design is the presence of complex and expensive to develop aircraft-type devices for the implementation of the return to the launch area and landing of the first stage.

A device for rescue launch vehicles is also known, comprising a payload compartment body and a carrier rocket housing, the lower parts of which are kinematically connected by a hinge, clamps made in the form of elastic plates with a wedge-shaped capture, pyro locks, thrust bearings, eyelets used for transformation launch vehicles from a packet bundle into an axisymmetric bundle by connecting the bottoms to each other, and upon reaching a predetermined vertical drop height, launch vehicles from an axisymmetric bundle again tr Ansform in batch, orienting the nozzles of their marching engines to the Earth (patent RU 2202500 with a priority of 02.21.2001).

The disadvantages of this design include the following:

- the presence in the design of complex mechanisms for transforming the stage, which significantly increases the weight of the structure;

- the need for thermal protection of the side surface of the tanks from aerodynamic heating during braking in a transformed position;

- landing is carried out far from the launch site, which requires the alienation of land and vehicles to deliver the step to the spaceport.

Despite these shortcomings, the device according to patent RU 2202500 can be adopted as a prototype.

The problem to which the invention is directed is to eliminate the above disadvantages and create a rocket design that provides reusable use of the first stage, allowing multiple returns and landing at the cosmodrome due to the thrust of standard engines of the first stage.

This technical result according to the invention is achieved by the fact that in a space rocket of a tandem scheme with a reusable first stage, the cylindrical interstage compartment is divided by a bottom-partition into two cavities. In the lower cavity of the interstage compartment, marching engines of the first stage are installed and fixed on the lower end frame, and in the upper cavity there are engines of the second stage and devices for pushing the stages with gas energy during separation. The oxidizer and fuel tanks of the first stage are made in the form of four containers, which are installed diametrically opposite for each component on the periphery of the interstage compartment and are mounted on its end frames. The lower bottoms of the tanks are made in the form of cones, at the tops of which are mounted supports for starting and landing the spent first stage.

In the lower cavities of the tanks, separated by a partition with valves, fuel is placed, which is used to return and land the reusable first stage. Steering engines are mounted on fuel tanks at a maximum distance from the longitudinal axis of the rocket, which allows you to create effective control efforts.

For thermal protection of the structural elements of the tail of the rocket from aerodynamic heating during braking in the descent section, a standard heat shield is used, which is installed for thermal protection from the jets of working engines during start-up and in the active section of the first-stage trajectory.

The invention is illustrated by drawings, where figure 1 shows a General view of the rocket of the tandem scheme with a reusable first stage. Figure 2 shows a view A of figure 1.

The missile includes a reusable first stage containing a cylindrical interstage compartment 1, divided by a bottom-partition 2 into two cavities: upper and lower. The interstage compartment 1 is equipped with lower and upper end frames 3 and 4, respectively. Marching engines 5 located in the lower cavity of compartment 1 are attached to the lower end frame 3, and the steering engines 6 are mounted on the tanks of the oxidizer 7 and fuel 8 at the maximum distance from the longitudinal axis of the rocket. The oxidizer tanks 7 and fuel 8 are made in the form of four containers, which are installed in pairs diametrically opposite (see figure 2) for each component on the periphery of the interstage compartment 1 and attached to its end frames 3 and 4. The lower bottoms of the tanks 7 and 8 are made in in the form of power cones 9, at the tops of which the supports 10 are mounted, used to launch the rocket and to land the spent reusable first stage.

In the lower part of each tank, fuel baffles 11 with valves 12 are installed, which are necessary for separating the volume of fuel used to return the reusable stage to the spaceport and its landing. Such a constructive solution makes it possible to provide fuel intake during engine restart after separation of stages with negative overloads and allows increasing pressure not in the entire tank volume, but only in a limited tank volume. The increase in pressure is associated with an increase in the temperature of the last portions of the component.

In the upper cavity of the interstage compartment 1 on the bottom-partition 2, a gas generator 13 of the stage repulsion system is installed when they are separated. The second stage 14 of the rocket is tandem mounted and mounted on the upper end frame 4. In the upper part of the fuel tanks are compartments for accommodating the equipment of the control system 15 of the reusable first stage. In the tail part of the first stage, a heat shield 16 is installed that protects the rocket’s structural elements from the effects of thermal loads from operating marching engines of the first stage when the rocket starts, its flight in the active section of the trajectory, in the descent section during aerodynamic braking of the stage and during active braking and landing of the stage for steering engines.

Rocket work.

The refueled rocket is mounted on the supports 10. After starting the marching and steering engines 5 and 6, respectively, the rocket lays on the set course, while the fuel components are consumed from the upper parts of the fuel tanks through open valves 12. Before the physical separation of the stages, the valves 12 are closed due to the operation of the gas generator 13 and, when the stages move to a safe distance for switching on the second stage, the engines 5 and 6 are turned on again. Fuel components are taken from the lower volumes of the fuel tanks s 7 and 8. Due to the thrust and steering propulsion motors of the first stage is carried out in turn pitch plane in the direction of returning to the launch site, producing a set speed to a value needed to return stage to the launch site of the ballistic trajectory. When the set speed is reached, the engines of the first stage are turned off, after which the first stage flies along a ballistic trajectory.

On the atmospheric portion of the trajectory, the stage is aerodynamically braked by the stabilized tail part downward, while the heat loads are perceived by the standard heat shield 16. At the calculated height from the ground, determined by the parachuting speed of the stage, the steering engines are turned on again 6. Due to the traction of the steering engines, the stage is actively braked, guidance errors are eliminated, the step is brought to the landing site, the vertical speed is extinguished to a value close to zero, and landing stage of the supports 10 in a predetermined area launch site. After preventive and maintenance work, the first stage is ready for reuse to bring another payload into the near-Earth space.

The proposed design of the rocket, in which the interstage compartment is an integral part of the first stage, allows after landing the payload into space, to land the first stage at the rocket launch point due to the multiple switching on of regular marching and steering engines and the use of a small part of the fuel components in the tanks, which eliminates the use in the design of the rocket of additional organs and devices necessary for returning the first stage and landing it at the cosmodrome.

Claims (4)

1. A space rocket of a tandem scheme with a reusable first stage, including marching and steering engines, fuel tanks, an interstage compartment with end frames, support for launch and landing, characterized in that the oxidizer and fuel tanks of the first stage are made in the form of four containers installed in pairs diametrically opposite for each component on the periphery of the interstage compartment and mounted on its end frames, and the interstage compartment is divided by a bottom-partition into two cavities, while in the lower cavity on the end frame there are marching engines of the first stage, and in the upper part there are engines of the second stage and a gas generator mounted on the bottom-partition to push the steps. 2. The rocket according to claim 1, characterized in that the lower bottoms of the fuel tanks of the first stage are made in the form of cones, at the tops of which are mounted supports for launching the rocket and landing the stage. 3. The rocket according to claim 1, characterized in that the first stage steering engines are mounted on fuel tanks at a maximum distance from the longitudinal axis of the rocket. 4. The rocket according to claim 1, characterized in that in the lower part of the fuel tanks installed fuel baffles with shut-off valves.

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