Space News Nov. 4-10 1996

Scorpius Low Cost Launch
Scorpius Weathers Financial Delay & Mother Nature

By MARILYN HADDRILL
Special to Space News

LAS CRUCES, N.M.- Following another successful test of its new rocket engine, Microcosm Inc. officials hope to have their first single-stage suborbital rocket ready to launch by the end of 1997.
The suborbital vehicles are the forerunners of the company's planned Scorpius family of launch vehicles, which are in tended to lower substantially the cost of sending payloads into orbit. To date, Microcosm of Torrance, Calif., has received about $15 million in U.S. gov ernment contracts under Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) grants.

Half that amount will come during the next year. The 1997 U.S. Department of Defense budget provides about $7 million in SBIR funding through the Air Force Phillips Laboratory. A NASA SBIR grant from Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., will provide $600,000 more.

The NASA contract calls for delivery of a single-stage, single-engine suborbital rocket, with completion anticipated late next year, depending on when the contract date starts, company officials said. As Microcosm officials prepared for the latest engine demonstration Oct. 22, an un expected early winter storm that dumped about 6 inches of snow in the area caused some glitches. Roads were too muddy for transporting visitors to the engine's test site. Instead, the test firing was viewed through a video hookup. "When we tried firing the rocket, we had a few problems because some of the wires were so wet," said test center director Van Romero. "After about a half-hour delay, we had a successful firing."

Under New Mexico's more typical sunny weather, Romero said, earlier tests of the strapped-down rocket engine proceeded more smoothly. He called February's 200 second burn a milestone in the program, since it demonstrated the engine's ability to reach low Earth orbit.

"We not only have to look at cheaper ways to get into space, but cheaper ways to get into development testing," Romero said at Wednesday's press conference in Las Cruces.

Static testing of Microcosm's experimen tal 5,000-pound thrust engine took place during 1995 and early 1996 at New Mexico Tech's Energetic Materials Research and Test Center near Socorro, with funding provide through Defense Department SBIR contract. Contract money ran out early this year, stalling the program despite a successful demonstration in February. Tests on the Scorpius engine resumed at the New Mexico Tech research center in August through new awards of multiple Defense Department SBIR contracts. Engine tests through 1997 will continue to focus on thrust vector control, which provides steering without use of the more expensive gimbals typically used to rotate and change the angle of thrust.
Microcosm President James R. Wertz said the NASA rocket likely will be the first vehicle in the Scorpius program launched, since it has the simplest design. The NASA contract goal is to create a launch vehicle with a recurring cost of less than $100,000. Wertz said NASA will determine the time and place of the future launch of the vehicle, known as the Scorpius SR-S. Several subsequent launch vehicles, known as SR-ls, will be devel oped under the Defense SBIR contracts. The first of the SR-1 launches could occur in late 1997 or early 1998 if no unexpected delays occur, Wertz said. The program goal is to keep recurring costs of an SR-1 vehi cle below $275,000. Launches of the SR-ls, single-stage rockets with three engines, will be conducted at White Sands Missile Range near Las Cruces.

If the Scorpius prograrm continues successfully, Microcosm officials say they would ask for future funding for develop ment of the SR-2, a two-stage vehicle with different configurations involving a minimum of six engines.
Wertz said the Scorpius program current ly covers expendable vehicles only. "Because a vehicle is reusable, it's not necessarily a guarantee that it will be cheaper," Wertz said. "On the other hand, a vehicle can be expendable but extremely low-cost to manufacture."

Microcosm officials say the Scorpius engine has 31 parts, and can be assembled from raw material with only 40 hours labor involved. Using a liquid propulsion system, the engine includes a graphite epoxy tank that uses kerosene and cryogenic fluids such as LOX.
Rep. Joe Skeen (R-N.M.) said Oct. 22 that the program could be an important development in New Mexico's plans to eventually build a commercial spaceport. "The idea here is to get the most boost for your buck," Skeen said.

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By MARILYN HADDRILL Special to Space News
LAS CRUCES, N.M.- Following another successful test of its new rocket engine, Microcosm Inc. officials hope to have their first single-stage suborbital rocket ready to launch by the end of 1997.
The suborbital vehicles are the forerunners of the company's planned Scorpius family of launch vehicles, which are in tended to lower substantially the cost of sending payloads into orbit. To date, Microcosm of Torrance, Calif., has received about $15 million in U.S. gov ernment contracts under Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) grants.
Half that amount will come during the next year. The 1997 U.S. Department of Defense budget provides about $7 million in SBIR funding through the Air Force Phillips Laboratory. A NASA SBIR grant from Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., will provide $600,000 more.
The NASA contract calls for delivery of a single-stage, single-engine suborbital rocket, with completion anticipated late next year, depending on when the contract date starts, company officials said. As Microcosm officials prepared for the latest engine demonstration Oct. 22, an un expected early winter storm that dumped about 6 inches of snow in the area caused some glitches. Roads were too muddy for transporting visitors to the engine's test site. Instead, the test firing was viewed through a video hookup. "When we tried firing the rocket, we had a few problems because some of the wires were so wet," said test center director Van Romero. "After about a half-hour delay, we had a successful firing."
Under New Mexico's more typical sunny weather, Romero said, earlier tests of the strapped-down rocket engine proceeded more smoothly. He called February's 200 second burn a milestone in the program, since it demonstrated the engine's ability to reach low Earth orbit.
"We not only have to look at cheaper ways to get into space, but cheaper ways to get into development testing," Romero said at Wednesday's press conference in Las Cruces.
Static testing of Microcosm's experimen tal 5,000-pound thrust engine took place during 1995 and early 1996 at New Mexico Tech's Energetic Materials Research and Test Center near Socorro, with funding provide through Defense Department SBIR contract. Contract money ran out early this year, stalling the program despite a successful demonstration in February. Tests on the Scorpius engine resumed at the New Mexico Tech research center in August through new awards of multiple Defense Department SBIR contracts. Engine tests through 1997 will continue to focus on thrust vector control, which provides steering without use of the more expensive gimbals typically used to rotate and change the angle of thrust.
Microcosm President James R. Wertz said the NASA rocket likely will be the first vehicle in the Scorpius program launched, since it has the simplest design. The NASA contract goal is to create a launch vehicle with a recurring cost of less than $100,000. Wertz said NASA will determine the time and place of the future launch of the vehicle, known as the Scorpius SR-S. Several subsequent launch vehicles, known as SR-ls, will be devel oped under the Defense SBIR contracts. The first of the SR-1 launches could occur in late 1997 or early 1998 if no unexpected delays occur, Wertz said. The program goal is to keep recurring costs of an SR-1 vehi cle below $275,000. Launches of the SR-ls, single-stage rockets with three engines, will be conducted at White Sands Missile Range near Las Cruces.
If the Scorpius prograrm continues successfully, Microcosm officials say they would ask for future funding for develop ment of the SR-2, a two-stage vehicle with different configurations involving a minimum of six engines.
Wertz said the Scorpius program current ly covers expendable vehicles only. "Because a vehicle is reusable, it's not necessarily a guarantee that it will be cheaper," Wertz said. "On the other hand, a vehicle can be expendable but extremely low-cost to manufacture."
Microcosm officials say the Scorpius engine has 31 parts, and can be assembled from raw material with only 40 hours labor involved. Using a liquid propulsion system, the engine includes a graphite epoxy tank that uses kerosene and cryogenic fluids such as LOX.
Rep. Joe Skeen (R-N.M.) said Oct. 22 that the program could be an important development in New Mexico's plans to eventually build a commercial spaceport. "The idea here is to get the most boost for your buck," Skeen said.