Faster conception of radically innovative systems: the strategic and organizational challenge for space agencies

Are space agencies able to reform the way they are organized? Attempts to reduce the time it takes to conceive new systems and adapt project management while fostering innovation have so far shown mixed results. In this paper, we describe some of the intellectual, strategic and organizational challenges the agencies are about to face in the coming years: managing the ever growing complexity of space systems; defining a knowledge-based strategy as the basis of a renewed organization; and assuming a central role in the innovation process in relation to industry. This thesis is illustrated with a case study of the CNES Microsatellite Myriade program.     

高频燃烧不稳定性的试验研究方法及面临的挑战

采用特征时间法分析了液体火箭发动机燃烧子过程的响应特性,指出了高频燃烧不稳定性试验研究的重点。介绍了国内外典型的高频燃烧不稳定性模拟实验方法与试验装置,认为推力室声学、低压燃烧不稳定性模拟试验以及喷嘴动力学试验研究是目前指导工程设计的主要途径,高压燃烧过程试验和光学测量技术是未来充分认识其激励机理的关键。     

The commercial challenge to Arianespace: the TCI affair

The question of how far rockets used for commercial launch services are subsidised by their respective governments remains highly topical. This article traces the history of the first legal challenge to be made on this basis by a US launch service provider against Arianespace, a case which also called into question the pricing of the Space Shuttle. The perceptions, deliberations and negotiations of both sides are traced and it is noted that their most important outcome was not settlement of the case itself but agreement to start serious consultations on defining ‘rules of the road’ regarding government support to the commercial launch industry.     

新一代高速反舰导弹对舰载电子对抗的挑战

反舰导弹和舰载电子对抗系统是矛与盾的关系,随着反舰导弹的更新换代,电子对抗系统必须做出针对性的调整,才能满足未来海战的需要。新一代高速反舰导弹具有速度快、抗干扰能力强和弹道可编辑等特点,给舰载电子对抗系统带来了挑战。在分析了新一代高速反舰导弹的主要性能的基础上,提出了舰载电子对抗系统的应对措施。     

预警体系面临新型目标的严峻挑战

未来战争威胁主要来自空天,超高声速武器等新型目标的发展给预警体系提出了严峻挑战。在分析常规雷达探测技术与新型航空航天目标特征的基础上,重点就现代雷达探测新型目标的关键技术与核心问题进行了研究,并给出了相关仿真结果。     

The impact of culture on human and space development--new millennial challenge

The Space Age is causing new applications to the concept of culture, a human coping tool. The exploration and exploitation of outer space resources are altering human culture both on Earth and in orbit. For the first time in history, our species need not merely react and adapt to environment, but plan for a space culture appropriate for extraterrestrial migration. The impact of culture can be analyzed in terms of how space developments alter human perceptions and behavior on this planet; the emergence of a new culture to suit the orbital environment; the organizations that build spacecraft and deploy people aloft; and the technological systems created for spacefaring. This article presents a paradigm for analyzing some of the non-technical human factors involved in space undertakings. It also offers a method for classifying a culture according to ten categories which may be applied both to a macroculture, such as a lunar base; or a microculture, such as a space agency or crew. Human enterprise in space is viewed as both altering the species, and providing a challenge for expanded behavioral and biological scientific research on living and working in space.     

轨道转移推进系统及其发展趋势

根据轨道转移系统的应用分类（包括上面级类、空天飞机类、卫星类、飞船类和新概念类）,对各类型典型飞行器的推进系统进行了综合评述,分别总结了相关的技术方案和应用特点,并针对当前的研究热点,简要论述了未来的发展趋势,最后给出了几点结论.     

Societal imperatives and the need for space nuclear power and propulsion systems

The development and exploitation of nuclear power and propulsion represent certain didactic imperatives for human civilization. Among these are economic, epistemological, moral and commercial propositions. Developing space nuclear power and propulsion represents one future; the choice of not to pursue the course barring some breakthrough in physics represents a dramatically different future. The author argues that the time is now fortuitous for deployment and operation of nuclear propulsion and power, primarily nuclear electric propulsion, at significant levels, employing figures of merit that transcend simple cost models used to justify nuclear power sources in the past. The proposition is examined, in the light of US and UN restrictions, to ascertain how best to proceed. The author argues that viewpoints of certain vocal albeit uninformed public interest groups are typically self-serving and generally categorically incorrect; it can be asserted that these same groups do not truly represent the public interest at all. It is, therefore, necessary to present an even-handed assessment of both sides of the argument to determine the virtues and liabilities of embarking on such a developmental path. Given the imperatives mentioned, the author argues that nuclear power and propulsion for space systems is a societal necessity.     

Rotational evolution of planetary systems under the action of gravitational and magnetic perturbations

Dynamics of planets around other stars that demonstrate a variety of possible characteristics is of interest from the point of view of realization of new scenarios of evolution which have not been realized in the Solar System. We consider the rotational evolution of exoplanets under the action of gravitational perturbations and magnetic disturbances using the methods of quality analysis and theory of bifurcation of multiparametric differential equations that describe evolution of non-resonant rotation of a dynamically symmetric planet magnetized along its symmetry axis. We analyze 64 phase portraits describing the evolution of angular momentum vector L for all possible values of planet parameters. The values of parameters are determined for the case when the direct rotation of a planet is changed for its retrograde rotation.     

Analysis of satellite systems for the periodic survey of the Earth

Satellite systems for the periodic survey of a given range of the Earth’s latitudes have been analyzed. As a rule, the efficiency of the satellite systems is estimated based on the maximum interruption, i.e., the maximum time interval that appears when surveying. However, this performance cannot serve as a full criterion for the quality of the survey, since it does not reflect all survey interruptions with their frequencies. To adequately analyze the operation of the satellite system, it is necessary to use the frequency distribution function of the survey interruptions; its determination is a complex problem and has not yet been solved in the general case. In this paper, we propose a method for calculating the set of all interruptions and frequencies suitable for any multisatellite systems with an arbitrary structure. The method is based on the vector model of the Earth’s survey. To estimate the efficiency of the satellite system operation, a complex criterion has been recommended that takes into account all survey interruptions and their frequencies. Two examples of the application of the developed method have been presented.     

Venus surface power and cooling systems

A mission to the surface of Venus would have high scientific value, but most electronic devices and sensors cannot operate at the 450 °C ambient surface temperature of Venus. Power and cooling systems were analyzed for Venus surface operation. A radioisotope power and cooling system was designed to provide electrical power for a probe operating on the surface of Venus. For a mission duration of substantial length, the use of thermal mass to maintain an operable temperature range is likely impractical, and active refrigeration may be required to keep components at a temperature below ambient. Due to the high thermal convection of the high-density atmosphere, the heat rejection temperature was assumed to be at a 500 °C radiator temperature, 50 °C above ambient. The radioisotope Stirling power converter designed produces a thermodynamic power output capacity of 478.1 W, with a cooling power of 100 W. The overall efficiency is calculated to be 23.36%. The mass of the power converter is estimated at approximately 21.6 kg.     

A systems and concurrent engineering framework for the integrated development of space products

This paper proposes a framework for the integrated development of space products. The framework is called ‘total view framework’ because it provides the total set of product, process and organisation elements and their interactions from the outset in the development process. It uses systems engineering (SE) and concurrent engineering (CE) in an integrated manner, as part of the same framework. The framework extends the application of the SE process to life cycle processes and their performing organisations and applies CE at all levels of the hierarchical product breakdown structure. The ‘total view framework’ is supported by a method, called ‘concurrent structured analysis method’, that consists of the three analysis processes: requirements, functional and physical. These processes mirror the bulk of the SE process and are applied concurrently to product, process and organisations. The outputs of the method are requirements, functional attributes, physical attributes and the interactions among them. These outputs are then analysed using a clustering algorithm and a complexity metric based on cohesion and coupling shows the clustering effects.     

Adiabatic invariants of the solar system and exo-planet systems and soliton-like disturbances of Alfvenic plasma proto-ring

Some new results are presented concerning quantization of observed parameters of the Solar System and exo-planet systems, as well as some functions of these parameters. General adiabatic invariants are introduced including (for the Solar System) orbital quantum numbers of planets and quantum numbers characterizing their proper rotation (spin). The quantization of parameters relating to satellite and exo-planetary systems is considered. Some arguments are presented about the influence of nonlinear disturbances of Alfvenic plasma proto-ring of the type of Frenkel-Kontorova (FK) and Russell-Korteweg-de Vries (KdV) solitons on formation of elite rings and their evolution with conservation of corresponding invariants. A mechanical model is synthesized that describes nonlinear FK soliton type disturbances of magnetized plasma.     

Multisatellite systems with linear structure and their application for continuous coverage of the earth

Multisatellite systems with linear structure (SLS) are defined, and their application for a continuous global or zonal coverage of the Earths surface is justified. It is demonstrated that in some cases these systems turned out to be better than usually recommended kinematically regular systems by G.V. Mozhaev, delta systems of J.G. Walker, and polar systems suggested by F.W. Gobets, L. Rider, and W.S. Adams. When a comparison is made using the criterion of a minimum radius of one-satellite coverage circle, the SLS beat the other systems for the majority of satellite numbers from the range 20–63, if the global continuous single coverage of the Earth is required. In the case of a zonal continuous single coverage of the latitude belt ±65°, the SLS are preferable at almost all numbers of satellites from 38 to 100, and further at any values up to 200 excluding 144.Translated from Kosmicheskie Issledovaniya, Vol. 43, No. 1, 2005, pp. 36–53.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Saulskiy.     

A generalization of the rocket formula and its application to advanced space propulsion systems

A generalized rocket formula is derived from a first principles approach. The resulting expression of the thrust is applied to advanced space propulsion systems and a possible link between the asymptotic propellant velocity and the velocity at thruster exit is given. An estimation of the thrust modification due to spacecraft–plume interactions is also considered.     

Deterministic control of uncertain systems

We consider the problem of designing a feedback control that guarantees the desired performance of a dynamical system containing uncertain elements. The desired performance is usually uniform ultimate boundedness within a neighborhood of an equilibrium. The treatment is deterministic in that one requires certain performance in the presence of uncertain information. The essential information about an uncertain element is only its possible size.     

Economics of satellite communications systems

This paper is partly a tutorial, telling systematically how one goes about calculating the total annual costs of a satellite communications system, and partly the expression of some original ideas on the choice of parameters so as to minimize these costs.The calculation of costs can be divided into two broad categories. The first is technical and is concerned with estimating what particular equipment will cost and what will be the annual expense to maintain and operate it. One starts in the estimation of any new system by listing the principal items of equipment, such as satellites, earth stations of various sizes and functions, telemetry and tracking equipment and terrestrial interfaces, and then estimating how much each item will cost. Methods are presented for generating such estimates, based on a knowledge of the gross parameters, such as antenna size, coverage area, transmitter power and information rate. These parameters determine the system performance and it is usually possible, knowing them, to estimate the costs of the equipment rather well. Some formulae based on regression analyses are presented. Methods are then given for estimating closely related expenses, such as maintenance and operation, and then an approximate method is developed for estimating terrestrial interconnection costs.It is pointed out that in specific cases when tariff and geographical information are available, it is usually better to work with specific data, but nonetheless it is often desirable, especially in global system estimating, to approximate these interconnect costs without recourse to individual tariffs. The procedure results in a set of costs for the purchase of equipment and its maintenance, and a schedule of payments. Some payments will be incurred during the manufacture of the satellite and before any systems operation, but many will not be incurred until the system is no longer in use, e.g. incentives. In any case, with the methods presented in the first section, one arrives at a schedule of costs and payments for all the items and the years in which they will be incurred. The second category of costing problems is one of financing or engineering economics. All the costs are first “present valued” to some reference period using rates of return appropriate to the particular situation.One finally arrives at sets of annual costs which can be used as the basis for setting lease costs or revenue requirements and tariffs. The correspondence between methods using discounted rates of return and capital recovery formulae on one hand and those using various depreciation schedules, such as is typical of regulated industries on the other hand, is discussed.The remainder of the paper is devoted to discussing the relationship between critical parameters, such as replacement schedules, design lifetime, satellite power and Earth station antenna size, and the overall costs.It is shown that optima for these parameters may exist and can be calculated. In particular, the optimization of satellite replacement schedules to minimize the present value of total investment over a very long period is presented, along with simplified versions of the theory suitable for system planning.The choice of EIRP is also discussed and a procedure for choosing the value that minimizes the costs is shown.     

Biological potential of Martian hydrothermal systems

A source of energy to power metabolism may be a limiting factor in the abundance and spatial distribution of past or extant life on Mars. Although a global average of chemical energy available for microbial metabolism and biomass production on Mars has been estimated previously, issues of how the energy is distributed and which particular environments have the greatest potential to support life remain unresolved. We address these issues using geochemical models to evaluate the amounts of chemical energy available in one potential biological environment, Martian hydrothermal systems. In these models, host rock compositions are based upon the compositions of Martian meteorites, which are reacted at high temperature with one of three groundwater compositions. For each model, the values for Gibbs energy of reactions that are important for terrestrial chemosynthetic organisms and likely representative for putative Martian microbes are calculated. Our results indicate that substantial amounts of chemical energy may be available in these systems, depending most sensitively upon the composition of the host rock. From the standpoint of sources of metabolic energy, it is likely that suitable environments exist to support Martian life.