14 DAY TRIAL // Two of the most famous developers of rocket components in the world announced today, February 8, their plans to construct a new type of rocket, that could achieve first flight as soon as 2013.
The Liberty delivery system would feature parts from two of the most established flight systems in the world, which together count more than 150 successful flights. The companies are using this rocket to respond to the NASA Commercial Crew Development-2 (CCDev-2) procurement.
The new agreement was signed between Minnesota-based Alliant Techsystems Inc. (ATK) and European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (EADS) subsidiary Astrium.
Propulsion systems like the ones these companies have are very difficult to come by. The first stage of the Liberty rocket will come already human-rated, as ATK used it on the Space Shuttle Program.
Engineers at the company derived their new design from that of the twin solid rocket boosters (SRB) that the space shuttles use to reach low-Earth orbit (LEO). The only difference between the two is that the shuttles use four-segment SRB, whereas Liberty uses a five-segment first stage.
Between 1988 and today, more than 214 SRB have flown successfully, on 107 shuttle missions. This speaks volumes about the quality of these rockets. They will make up the first half of Liberty.
The second stage is provided by EADS Astrium, which is the main developer and manufacturer of Ariane 5 delivery systems. The corporation is working with leading European propulsion company Safran Group for this project.
Liberty's second stage will therefore be based on the liquid-fueled cryogenic core of the Ariane 5 rocket, which is powered by the Vulcain2 engines. Over the past 8 years, these European rockets have flown 40 consecutive successful missions.
This unrivaled safety record in the commercial launch services market allowed the Ariane 5 to boast the lowest launch insurance rates in the industry.
“This team represents the true sense of international partnership in that we looked across borders to find the best for our customers,” ATK Aerospace Systems Group president Blake Larson says.
“Together we combine unique flight-proven systems and commercial experience that allows us to offer the market’s most capable launch vehicle along with flexibility to meet a wide variety of emerging needs,” the official goes on to say.
“Liberty provides greater performance at less cost than any other comparable launch vehicle,” he concludes.
Other Liberty team members include: United Space Alliance (USA) of Houston, Texas and Kennedy Space Center, Florida for launch vehicle integration and ground operations support, and L-3 Communications of Cincinnati, Ohio for first stage avionics.