Like NASA, the Air Force Space Division (AFSD) and the Aerospace Corporation perform noise measurements for community noise, on vehicle loads, and/or support structure loads assessments in support of military satellite programs, as do large rocket engine manufacturers including ATK Launch Systems (Morton-Thiokol) and UTC's Rocketdyne. Private space launch vehicle companies such as Orbital Systems Corporation, United Space Alliance, and Space Exploration Technologies are poised for growth. All of these companies will benefit from the improved technology that the energy-based probe presents. In addition, Jet engine manufacturers including Rolls-Royce (with its outdoor test facility at Stennis Space Center), UTC Pratt & Whitney, and GE Aviation perform jet engine source-noise characterization. Helicopter manufacturers Boeing, Bell, and UTC Sikorsky, as well as heavy machinery manufacturers (e.g. Caterpillar, Komatsu, John Deere) are another potential user group. As system development occurs during Phase II, alternative applications will be explored to expand the customer base.
The initial target market for the energy-based probe and data analysis tool is a core community of potential users interested in near-field rocket noise. The primary users are NASA facilities: Stennis Space Center, Marshall Space Flight Center, and Kennedy Space Center, who all perform rocket (static or lift-off) noise measurements for community noise, on vehicle loads, and/or support structure loads assessments. Our proposed system will provide a better understanding of the acoustic near-field with acoustical energy-based measures as opposed to simple pressure and intensity measures. This tool will provide a superior technical advantage over other measurements based on the ability of acoustical energy-based probes to characterize rocket noise. Once this capability is demonstrated and proved during Phase II, we fully expect energy-based measurement to be the most accurate method to characterize near-field rocket noise and as such, that NASA will require it for their noise measurement programs.
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