Extraterrestrial Launch Campaigns

Have you ever wondered about the challenges of building extraterrestrial ground systems and performing pre-launch anomaly resolution during an Earth-return launch campaign? As you might guess, there are a lot of things that go into such an endeavor. Additionally, numerous things can go wrong, too. This blog post will explore the complexities of successfully launching a spacecraft from the Lunar or Martian surface.

Before launch from the Lunar or Martian surface, the rocket must be safely refueled if the vehicle does not carry its fuel for the return trip. The hardware required for generating, storing, and delivering the various commodities can be heavy, complex, exposed to extreme operating environments, and subject to component or system failures. Often, ground-system or vehicle-system failures result in time-sensitive data anomalies currently dispositioned and resolved on Earth by engineers and launch site technicians. But this workflow might not be practical given a (presumably) limited Martian workforce and the long communication time delay between Earth and Mars. The effects of ground system hardware requirements, labor requirements, and day-of-launch workflows on the overall mission design need to be considered to demonstrate the feasibility of any sustainable and affordable crewed Lunar and Mars mission architecture.

The ground systems of a launch complex are critical for ensuring the success of a launch. Among other functions, ground systems are responsible for providing a clean launch pad to withstand the blast from the engines and prevent debris from impacting the rocket, preventing debris from affecting the support equipment, structurally supporting the rocket during the countdown, loading the rocket with fuel, supplying electrical power and communication lines to the rocket prior to launch, and sending commands to and receiving telemetry from the rocket after launch. Due to the complexity of building a launch vehicle, the ground systems are understandably tailored to vehicle-specific requirements. For a non-Earth-based launch system, there will be severe constraints on the available material and human involvement in the construction process, and the combined design space of the ground system and launch vehicle requires careful consideration.?

A common aspect of day-of-launch operations is pre-launch anomaly resolution—working towards addressing problems in the ground system or launch vehicle. Dozens of technical experts commonly use predetermined limits to identify issues while constantly monitoring data from critical systems. The ground system will be relatively new and untested for Earth-return launches from the Moon or Mars. For launches from Mars, there is a communication time delay of up to 22 minutes with Earth, further complicating the anomaly resolution process. Given the low margin of error for Earth-return launches, the relatively untested ground systems, and the small complement of personnel available on Mars, a significant presence of automated day-of-launch operations is essential for Lunar and Martian missions.

Providing insulated storage and on-demand transfer of generated propellant requires a complex ground system like those found at terrestrial launch sites. Given the novelty of such a system and the high likelihood of anomalies in new launch system designs, a Lunar ground system can serve as a valuable testbed for a future Martian mission. A Mars mission will require a more advanced pre-launch anomaly resolution process that incorporates automation beyond what is currently used by launch providers. Development and testing of the ground system deployment and construction and pre-launch anomaly resolution techniques should not only be considered an essential component of the overall mission architecture but begin development concurrently with the extraterrestrial ascent vehicle. The Aerospace Corporation is deeply involved with launch campaigns leading up to and including day-of-launch operations, providing government customers with valuable technical guidance on day-of-launch anomalies and issues and addressing the challenges by developing tools to provide automated anomaly detection and classification for complex systems.?

Matthew Taliaferro, Samuel Darr, and Galina Shpuntova have been with The Aerospace Corporation for a combined 20 years, all joining shortly after completing their PhDs. They are deeply involved with technical evaluations of both existing and new launch vehicles for Space Force missions. Areas of technical expertise include general tank thermodynamics for cryogenic propellants, liquid transients (water hammer), slosh, low-g quiescent boiling, boiling under forced convection, and cavitation.

Getting It Right focuses on industry collaboration for mission success by sharing lessons learned, best practices, and engineering advances in response to the nation’s toughest challenges. It is published by the Aerospace Corporate Chief Engineer’s Office.