Abstract
With the efficiencies of current launch systems reaching their chemical limit, there is a need to investigate improved methods of placing payloads into orbit. Although being able to improve the efficiency of a vehicle by several percent is beneficial, this may only increase the overall payload mass fraction by a small amount. Beamed energy propulsion is a revolutionary technique being explored to achieve increased performance. Beamed energy propulsion is a technique which utilizes electromagnetic radiation from a remote source to increase the energy of a propellant. A possible benefit of this technique is its potential to propel a spacecraft into orbit without the addition of mass to the launch vehicle. The focus of this critical analysis was to evaluate a microwave based beamed energy propulsion system that directly couples its energy to the alumina particles exiting the nozzle of a solid rocket motor. Thrust augmentation occurs through a process of the liquid alumina droplets in the exhaust nozzle absorbing microwave energy and remaining at an elevated temperature. The absorbed microwave energy is deposited into the expanding gas through molecular collisions with the liquid alumina droplets. This analysis includes a study of the coupling coefficient of microwaves to alumina particles, an overview of the ground based microwave generation system, and launch vehicle trajectory simulations to extract performance data.