Estimation of salvation possibility for reusability of the launch vehicle elements

摘要

In this paper, some facts related to the reusable systems of launch vehicles are described. The authors have proposed a classification of rescue methods, a simple engineering model, that allows an operational assessment of the impact of additional masses associated with the salvation of the stage or its individual elements on the mass of the target load being placed into low earth orbit, as a first approximation. As the main criterion for evaluating the effectiveness of choosing a rescue method, the cost of removing 1 kg of payload to low earth orbit is considered. The most promising way to save the elements for reusability, the authors consider the aerospace parachute system, which opens immediately after the separation of the stage. Salvation systems for Falcon-9 and Soyuz-5M launch vehicles are considered as examples since these ones can be the main ways to rescue launch vehicles stages or their engine blocks in the near future.