Pdf space propulsion and power beaming using millimeter. Boeing has patented a laser powered propulsion system for airplanes. Birkan is the program manager of the space propulsion and power program at the u. The beam is typically either a microwave or a laser beam and it is either pulsed or continuous. Draft 61500 the four phases of the project this electrodynamic propulsion design challenge moves through four distinct phases, in about twelve sessions assuming that each session is a 45minute period. Combining these two equations with the momentum equation dotted with vs gives. The transmission mirror system was composed of a couple of offset parabolic mirrors. This greater efficiency means less propellant is needed for a mission. The total efficiency is the jet power produced by the thrust beam. Kerrebrock and subsequently adapted by manuel martinezsanchez.
However, for a long time ive felt that the biggest obstacle to overcome is the beam divergence problem. Review of laser lightcraft propulsion system preprint dtic. The four phases are outlined below and are roughly correlated to. Laser propulsion is a form of beampowered propulsion where the energy source is a remote usually groundbased laser system and separate from the reaction mass. It is fitted with a fuel tank containing a gas such as hydrogen, plus a set of pipes or channels into which the gas is pumped. In order to improve performance with these architectures, intelligent control strategies are required, while mostly conventional control. Ferreira palte in order to produce propulsive force in the outer space, using a sequenced pattern of phaseshifted electric oscillations, similarly to a linear ac motor, running much faster, creating sideway electrodynamic drag, consequently, producing an. Beam powered space propulsion work from nasa, darpa and some other companies. Ive often read that beampowered propulsion is the only basic interstellar propulsion concept without physics problems. In this initial concept, expelled field lines again meet oppositely. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service. Lasers, lightcraft, laser propulsion, reusable launch vehicles. Introduction propulsion systems are those that are required to propel the vehicles to which they are attached. Laserpropelled lightcraft how light propulsion will.
The central power station can remain fixed, generating the laser beam and aiming it at the spacecraft receiver. Periodically, there is news of the latest and greatest. Benjamin zhang said the us patent and trademark office approved boeings application for a laser and nucleardriven airplane. Beamed energy propulsion seventh international symposium table of contents preface. As with the previous edition, coauthored with oscar. Ion propulsion is 10 times more fuel efficient than onboard chemical propulsion systems. The recent trend to design more efficient and versatile ships has increased the variety in hybrid propulsion and power supply architectures. Rocket propulsion powered using a gyrotron 366 consequently, a millimeterwave transfer system was developed as depicted in fig. The objective of this effort is to define the potential of highpower lasers for. Jet propulsion laboratory, california institute of technology, under a contract. Beam powered space propulsion work from nasa, darpa and. Design and control of hybrid power and propulsion systems.
This section includes select lecture notes for the course excluding lessons on aircraft propulsion and jet engine rotordynamics. Summary izentis is a world leader in beamed energy propulsion technology. Laserpowered lightcraft systems that deliver nanosatellites to leo have. A seminar report on electric propulsion linkedin slideshare.
The dish would combine the power from a few hundred gyrotrons, and to prevent too much of that. Pdf an alternative to rockets is to push spacecraft with a reflected beam. Particle beam propulsion and twoway eml propulsion. Heres a look at the basic components of this revolutionary propulsion system. Categorization powered by onboard lasers powered by ground spacebased lasers 2. A number of sites reported on the patent, with eyerubbing headlines that told the story. This form of propulsion differs from a conventional chemical rocket where both energy and reaction mass come from the solid or liquid propellants carried on board the vehicle. Then talk a bit about where that technology is at today and where it may be going tomorrow.
Finally, the present paper includes a discussion of the connection between v e and the possible speed of a future vehicle powered by a beamed core engine. Landis nasa john glenn research center, mailstop 3021, 2 brookpark road, cleveland, oh 445 216 4332238 ernaih geoffrey. This results in more propellant consumption than the baseline. Aerospace propulsion innovation aerospace your future aerospace propulsion innovation page 2 of 17 welcome one the simple four forces of flight is thrust propulsion. Our team has experience in both the theoretical and experimental aspects of the technology. Beamed energy propulsion huntsville, alabama, usa 5 7 november 2002 editor andrew v. Beamed energy propulsion hansalbert eckel 1 program committee 3 plenary the thin disk lasera versatile laser source for beamed energy propulsion jochen speiser 7 update on modular laser launch system and heat exchanger thruster jordin t. Particle beam propulsion and twoway eml propulsion introductory note. These factors favor a small launch vehicle with a short powered ascent phase in order.
In the mid90s jordin kare also had worked on a heat exchanger microwave powered rocket. Beampowered propulsion, also known as directed energy propulsion, is a class of aircraft or spacecraft propulsion that uses energy beamed to the spacecraft. By this definition, propulsion systems are many and varied, starting from our muscles using which we propel ourselves in walking, running, swimming, and so on. Combined with recent work on wafer scale photonics, we can now envision combining these.
Distinguished by its use of a collimated laser or microwave beam concept of laser propulsion system 2. This concept has the advantage of using the ambient air as the working fluid in the atmosphere and carrying propellant only for use outside the. Beampowered propulsion, also known as directed energy propulsion, is a class of aircraft or spacecraft propulsion that uses energy beamed to the spacecraft from a remote power plant to provide energy. A football field or greater size pv array would be called for and the efficiency of that would also be relevant. Design considerations and experiences of first flight dr paul robertson ackn c. An advanced electric propulsion diagnostic aepd platform. The businessinsider headline read, boeing just patented a jet engine powered by lasers and nuclear explosions. Podkletnov utilized target masses suspended in a pendulum arrangement within evacuated glass cylinders to measure the strength of the anomalous beam. And he knew that realizations of his beamsail propulsion concepts are. Ion and hall thrusters march 2008 the research described in this publication was carried out at the jet propulsion laboratory, california institute of technology, under a contract with the national aeronautics and space administration. Pdf mass beam propulsion, an overview researchgate.
Pakhomov melville, new york, 2 aip conference proceedings first international symposium on beamed energy propulsion. The slides were scanned and published in the proceedings 1. The energy source is the combustion of a fuel carried onboard with oxygen in the air, but it might also be solar power or nuclear power. This page is to go over various beam propulsion technologies, such as the recently controversial microwave thruster featured on well start with a history of beam propulsion research, by both military and private corporations. Two difficulties with the use of laserpropelled lightsails for. The first paper titled beam space propulsion by alexander bolonkin author offers a revolutionary method nonrocket transfer of energy and thrust into space with a distance of millions of kilometers. Advantages against electric propulsion in spacedirect drive by solar arrayhigh temperature plasma sustained apart from electrodes. The concept of beamed energy propulsion is to use an external energy source such as a groundbased laser or microwave to power a.
First, from wikipedia on beampowered propulsion direct impulse. Electric propulsion systems for ships topics yoshifumi ajioka kiyoshi ohno increasing use of electric propulsion systems on ships as is the case with general automobiles that are driven on land, the main type of engine used on ships is the internal combustion engine motors such as diesel engines and gas turbines. The solar sail is a large thin film used to collect solar light pressure for moving of space apparatus. Beampowered propulsion keeping the beam focused page. The field resonance propulsion concept has been developed utilizing recent. The principle of rocket propulsion was known as far back as 360b. The basic idea behind light propulsion is the use of groundbased lasers to heat air to the point that it explodes, propelling the spacecraft forward. In todays world, engine and transportation efficiency is driving propulsion innovation to the limits and beyond. The electrodynamic space thruster is a propulsion system designed by douglas m. Icarus interstellar is a non profit foundation dedicated to accomplishing interstellar flight by the year 2100. The second world war and the cold war advanced rocket missile development in modern time. Elon musk talks about beamed energy propulsion and its concerns and challenges.
Sequential firing of a row of electromagnets accelerates the payload along a path. Another advantage to a coat system is that it allows automatic acquisition. In this article, we have uploaded some research papers, which will help the students to understand the concept of beamed energy propulsion. If it works, light propulsion will be thousands of times lighter and more efficient than chemical rocket engines, and will produce zero pollution. Advantages against chemical rockets from the groundhigh specific power, high gas temperature. Aerospace engineer leik myrabo is absolutely sure lasers are the future of flight, and hes confident well be flying at hypersonic speed using beampowered propulsion within a generation. The millimeterwave beam generated by the 170 ghz highpower gyrotron was transmitted through the 63. All existing and contemplated mass drivers use coils of wire energized by electricity to make electromagnets. In laser electric propulsion lep, power is beamed to a photovoltaic collector on a space vehicle, where it is converted to electricity for an ion engine holloway and garrett 1981. Find materials for this course in the pages linked along the.
Those pages were scanned in 2011 to create this electronic pdf version. The millimeterwave thermal launch system mtls is a beamedenergy propulsion concept being designed at. Unfortunately, the solar radiation pressure is very small about 9 munmm at earths orbit. Any propulsion beam will need to be generated in a spacecraft and the energy requirement will be another massive problem to deal with. Download fulltext pdf space propulsion and power beaming using millimeter systems article pdf available in proceedings of spie the international society for optical engineering september. Boeing patent puts focus on laserpowered propulsion.
If youre looking for a free download links of rocket propulsion elements pdf, epub, docx and torrent then this site is not for you. In the th century solid rocketpowered arrows were used by the chinese military. This presentation was made at the 4th advanced space propulsion workshop in 1993. The basic idea for the lightcraft is simple the acornshaped craft uses mirrors to receive and focus the incoming laser beam to heat air, which explodes to propel the craft. Deep s pace 1 carries 178 pounds 81 kilograms of xenon propellant, capable of fueling engine operation. A mass driver or electromagnetic catapult is a proposed method of nonrocket spacelaunch which would use a linear motor to accelerate and catapult payloads up to high speeds. A simple, cheap drive for the solar system and beyond. New experiments may bring laser propulsion for aircraft and spacecraft closer to reality. In turn, the spacecraft can be smaller and lighter, and launch costs lower. Experimental characterization is an essential task in development, qualification and optimization process of electric propulsion thrusters or ion beam sources for material processing, because it can verify that the thruster or ion beam source fulfills the requested mission or application requirements, and it can provide parameters for thruster and plasma modeling. This includes publishing papers on heat exchanger technology and building test rocket vehicles. To make a propulsion system, subsystems need to be developed to acquire.