Commercial Options for Hybrid Chemical/Electric Propulsion Transportation System to Support Mars Exploration

摘要

NASA's Human Spaceflight Architecture Team is developing a reusable hybrid Mars transportation architecture which combines both chemical and solar-electric propulsion systems to deliver crew and cargo to exploration destinations. For both crew and cargo missions to Mars, NASA's Evolv-able Mars Campaign assumes assets are launched and aggregated in a Lunar Distant Retrograde Orbit before their departure to their destination. To enable reuse of the in-space transportation system, the spacecraft is designed to be resupplied and refueled before each mission. The resupply and refueling missions provide an unique opportunity for adapting the commercial procurement model established with the recent Commercial Resupply Services to the International Space Station. This paper provides an assessment of the utilization of commercial providers to provide propellant in support of the Hybrid Mars transportation architecture. Assessment of the baseline non-commercial architecture shows the required launch rate of the Space Launch System exceeds the Evolvable Mars Campaign ground rule. Using commercial launch providers to perform the resupply missions reduces the required launch rate of the Space Launch System to bring it more in line with the established ground rule. Analysis show single provider commercial resupply would require launch rates no greater than twelve per year without aggregation and no greater than five launches per year with aggregation. Utilizing a mixed fleet of commercial providers can reduce the launch rate to one launch per year per provider assuming current commercial launch capability.