Evaluation of Non-Turbopump Feed Systems for Application in a Two-Stage Launch Vehicle

Es-haghnia, Hanieh; Nosratollahi, Mehran; Adami, Amirhossein

doi:10.22034/jast.2025.482120.1211

Evaluation of Non-Turbopump Feed Systems for Application in a Two-Stage Launch Vehicle

Articles in Press

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Hanieh Es-haghnia ¹

Mehran Nosratollahi ²

Amirhossein Adami ¹

¹ Faculty of Aerospace, Malek Ashtar University of Technology, Iran

² Faculty of Aerospace, Malek Ashtar university of technology, Iran

10.22034/jast.2025.482120.1211

Abstract

Given the significant cost associated with space missions, optimizing launch vehicles (LVs) has been a major focus. The main component of a launch vehicle, and a significant contributor to its cost, is the propulsion system. Propulsion systems can be primarily categorized into two types based on their feeding mechanisms: pump-fed and pressure-fed.. This paper, considers the development of non-turbopump propulsion systems for optimum LV design. To this purpose, disciplines modeling of LV have been presented. Multidisciplinary design optimization of non-turbopump LV is proposed based on the All At Once framework, and validation has been given. The desired mission is to send the maximum payload mass into a 250 km orbit with the minimum total mass of the LV. According to the results, the new optimal Gas Pressure Fed LV concept is introduced as a low-cost and efficient launcher in terms of mass, dimensions, and performance. By mission optimization, the optimal GPF-LV can carry and inject 1857 kg of payload with 85.602 tons of gross mass (μ_pay=0.02169) into a 250 km orbit.

Keywords

Launcher

Propulsion system

Pressure-fed system feeding

Multidisciplinary design optimization

Subjects