公开(公告)号：US5799902A

公开(公告)日：1998-09-01

申请号：US900923

申请日：1997-07-28

申请人： Edward L. Keith ,  Thomas P. Bauer

发明人： Edward L. Keith ,  Thomas P. Bauer

IPC分类号： B64G1/00 ,  B64G1/24 ,  B64G1/26 ,  B64G1/40 ,  B64G1/64 ,  F02K9/76 ,  F02K9/80 ,  F42B15/36 ,  B64C15/02 ,  B64F1/10 ,  B64G1/42

CPC分类号： B64G1/26 ,  B64G1/002 ,  B64G1/242 ,  B64G1/401 ,  B64G1/641 ,  B64G1/645 ,  F02K9/766 ,  F02K9/80 ,  F42B15/36 ,  B64G2001/245

摘要： A low-cost, liquid-propellant rocket launch vehicle having a central pod that carries an optional final-stage rocket engine cluster, and having additional engine clusters arranged in diametrically opposed pairs of clusters. The pairs of clusters are burned and separated in a staging sequence until the final stage is reached. In the presently preferred embodiment, there are three pairs of engine clusters arranged in a hexagonal configuration about the central pod and each engine cluster contains seven identical engines. The engines are made from light-weight, low-cost materials, without gimbals or other moving parts. Steering of the vehicle is effected by differential control of the engine thrusts of selected engines, using duty-cycle modulation of a plurality of on/off propellant supply valves and, additionally, control of other on/off valves controlling the supply of an inert cryogenic fluid to secondary injection ports on the engine. An onboard gas generator provides inert gas for fluid pressurization and preferably uses as its principal reactant the same material used as the cryogenic fluid. Navigation is effected with inexpensive onboard systems and the entire vehicle provides a dramatic reduction in cost in comparison with conventional launch vehicles.

摘要翻译： 一种低成本的液体推进剂火箭运载火箭，其具有携带可选的最终级火箭发动机组的中央舱，并且具有排列成直径相对的一对群组的附加发动机集群。 这些群集在分段序列中燃烧和分离，直到达到最后阶段。 在目前优选的实施例中，有三对发动机组以六边形构型围绕中心舱排列，并且每个发动机组包含七个相同的发动机。 发动机由重量轻，成本低廉的材料制成，不需要万向节或其他运动部件。 车辆的转向是通过使用多个开/关推进剂供应阀的占空比调制来选择发动机的发动机推力的差速控制来实现的，另外控制另外的控制供应惰性低温的开关阀 流体到发动机上的二次注射口。 机载气体发生器提供用于流体加压的惰性气体，并且优选将其用作与低温流体相同的材料作为其主要反应物。 使用便宜的车载系统进行导航，与传统运载火箭相比，整个车辆显着降低了成本。