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This Defense Intelligence Reference Document from the Defense Intelligence Agency, dated 1 November 2010, was produced under the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications (AAWSA) Program. It describes nanosatellite technologies and proposes launching nanosats into orbit with laser Lightcraft propulsion. It also covers a weapon mission selection study and multi-megawatt laser options. The author recommends that the Department of Defense and NASA bring Lightcraft R&D back to the United States and restart the X-50LR flight demonstration program.
“The Advance”13 pages
UNCLASSIFIED//F8~ 8FFlfil1l1k Wliilii &Hkl:f The total cost for an installed 10 MW power oscillator-based laser transmitter is estimated as follows [29]: • 2.5 MW Prototype= $80.0 Million. • 3 x 2.5 MW Additional Modules+ 4 Module Integration = $133.0 Million. • Buildings/Installations~ $17.0 Million. • Total Installed & Integrated Transmitter Cost~ $230 Million. And the additional costs for the MOPA-based transmitters and cold-flow assessment are [29]: • 4 Master Oscillators~ $20.0 Million. • Cold-Flow Subscale Upgrades & Evaluations~ $5.0 Million. • Total Additional Cost ~ $25.0 Million. The TEXTRON Systems study concluded that [29]: • A pulsed CO2 repetitively pulsed transmitter, which uses a 300 second blow down and beam combining, can provide the power levels and energies needed for Lightcraft propulsion applications. • Spectral tailoring of the beam and mountain-top operation should provide reasonable atmospheric transmission of the high pulsed-power laser beam. • Low cost operation is achievable with helium-free gas mixtures, which use N2, CO2, and small quantities of H2. • Subscale testing will be used to anchor the design and thus reduce risk. • Legacy programs support many aspects of this approach. • Growth potential with cold-flow and aero windows should double the beam power output. • Current pulsed CO2 laser technology blow down configuration is postured to provide power levels for propulsion of kilogram-sized spacecraft into orbit. Payload Cost Estimate for Lightcraft Launch Using a 10 MW CO2/Gas Mixture Laser Froning and Davis [26] used a proposed 10 MW electron gun-driven N2/CO2/H2 laser design to estimate the Lightcraft payload launch cost per kilogram, which is described in what follows. Each power oscillator optics module transmitting a 2.5 MW beam of 10.6 μm wavelength photons generates 1.334 x 1026 photons/sec, and 15 kg/sec of CD2 mass flow represents 2.053 x 1026 molecules/sec of gas flow. These figures taken together mean that 1.54 CO2 molecules are required to lase one photon. A 2.5 MW laser operating for 300 seconds of thrusting will allow us to send 5.25 kg of payload into LEO, and the total laser energy (E1aser) output is 750 MJ. If the laser efficiency is 0.20, then we will need to use 12.5 MW of electrical power for 300 seconds (or 3,750 MJ of total energy), which, at a cost of $0.10 per kWh (or $0.0278 per MJ), gives a total cost of $104 for the required electrical energy to launch the payload. The kinetic energy (KE) of a Lightcraft in LEO is given by KE= 11a~yE1aser, where [26]: 46 UNCLASSIFIED/ ,'F811. 8FFll!l,'\I! l!l!il! 8111!¥
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Report, from the dia collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 77 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.