High Performance Hybrid Upper Stage for NanoLaunch Vehicles

The availability of a dedicated CubeSat launch vehicle will provide NASA a solution for low-cost payload insertion for their in-house CubeSats such as Nodes, MinXSS, the ELaNa payloads, the CubeQuest Challenge mission, IceCube or FireFly. The proposed propulsion solution will offer a significantly higher degree of mission flexibility than is possible with rideshare delivery methods. The Parabilis solution also enables very precise orbit injection, allowing spacecraft to forgo on-board propulsion in many cases. This precision facilitates cooperative missions where new spacecraft need to join an existing constellation, such as the proposed CubeSat A-Train that builds a network of observatories similar to the existing -Afternoon Constellation- of full-sized spacecraft currently in LEO. This solicitation and proposed technology aligns with NASA's 2014 Strategic Plan Objective 3.2, providing access to space.

Since 2000, there have been nearly 500 CubeSats launched. In 2014, the number of CubeSat launches surged in a large part due to the launch of PlanetLabs Flock 1 satellites. This increase in demand has created a backlog for CubeSats in rideshare markets. This backlog, as well as the ever growing capability of CubeSats has created a significant demand for dedicated CubeSat launch vehicles. Potential non-NASA customers include universities, businesses, and research institutions. A number of universities have CubeSat development programs that would benefit from a dedicated launch on demand service with precision, selectable orbit injection. The proposed innovation is also an ideal solution to military responsive space challenges. For instance, the US Navy's ICE-Cap CubeSat could be produced in bulk and stored to be launched as a quick response method for augmenting MUOS communications capability to meet rapidly-changing global demands. Additional commercial applications exist for the proposed stage beyond that of a dedicated launch vehicle upper stage. The stages -compact size allows it to be used as a secondary payload post-deployment propulsion system on many launch vehicles. This will give CubeSats and MicroSats significant capabilities when launched as a secondary payload. The innovation can also be applied to larger products geared for lower stages. More »