Generation Orbit (GO) is developing a sub-orbital system to enable rapid and inexpensive hypersonic flight regime test capabilities. To keep the cost of their launch system low, GO acts as systems integrator, utilizing as many off-the-shelf components as possible.
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This task was a collaboration between NASA LaRC and Generation Orbit Launch Services (GOLS), Inc. to evaluate the use of composites in place of aluminum in the liquid oxygen propellant tanks. NASA was to design, analyze, and fabricate to composite manufacturing design units and deliver them to GOLS for testing. A particular emphasis of this effort was on the use of tow steering to improve load redistribution from the pylon attachment into the tank. NASA LaRC's Integrated Structural Assembly of Advanced Composites (ISAAC) robotic system was used in tank fabrication.