1.

Basic Rocket Equations

q

Rocket principle & rocket equation

Specific solutions of the rocket equation
(Propulsion demand & propellant demand)
Efficiency
Trade off: structure vs. payload

LRT 2010 Spacecraft Technology I 1.1

Additional Literature

Spaceflight Dynamics,
W.E. Wiesel,
McGraw Hill, 1997, ISBN 0-07-070110-5

Rocket Propulsion Elements

G.P.Sutton, O.Biblarz
John Wiley & Sons, ISBN 0-471-32642-9

Fundamentals of Space Systems

V.L.Pisacane, R.C.Moore
Oxford University Press, 1994, ISBN 0-19-507497-1

Space Vehicle
S V hi l D Design
i
M.D. Griffin, J.R.French
AIAA Education Series, 1991, ISBN 0-930403-90-8

Spacecraft Systems Engineering, 3nd edition

P. Fortescue, J. Stark (eds.)
John Wiley & Sons, 2003, ISBN 0-471-95220-6

Introduction to Astronautics, Vol 1

HOR
H.O.Ruppe
Academic Press, 1966

LRT 2010 Spacecraft Technology I 1.2

 Rocket Principle I

m is the mass of the rocket

dmp is a small propellant mass
Hence: dm = -dm
dmp < 0

F*

Earth-fixed frame of reference

v - effective
ff ti exhaust
h t velocity
l it
(explained in later sliodes)

LRT 2010 Spacecraft Technology I 1.3

Rocket Principle II

Conservation of momentum: p (t o ) p (t o dt )
note : dm p dm

Rocket Ejected Accelerated rocket

before propellant

Vectorial equation: mv dm v v * m dm v d v
therefore : dm v * m d v 0

F * m v m v * m p v * Thrust

Mass flow! Effective exhaust velocity

F* m v* m p v*
mp is the propellant mass flow
Absolute (scalar)value:
F * opposite to v*

High thrust: high mass flow (launch off planet surface)

LRT 2010 Spacecraft Technology I 1.4

 Pressure Conditions in a Combustion Chamber

Idealized
without
ith t outlet
tl t

p due
d tto mass flow
fl
(Eulers equation)
m p vA continuity equ . / mass conservati on
dv
p
dt

LRT 2010 Spacecraft Technology I 1.5

Momentum Thrust and Pressure Thrust

A mass flow is only generated for a chamber with outlet m p cons tan t (continuity equ . / mass conservati on )

At the outlet, no counter

pressure from chamber
p p

Additional pressure thrust forward

Common combustion chamber, any outlet:

momentum thrust Fe Pressure thrust Fp Effective exhaust velocity

note : for ideally exp anded nozzle , pe p , and v* ve

LRT 2010 Spacecraft Technology I 1.6

 Continuity Equation

The continuity equation holds

for every point along the axis
of the rocket motor:

dm dV Av dt Definition of the variables determining a rocket motor

m vA

In particular at the nozzle exit:

m e ve Ae
Fe e Ae ve2 Fe m p ve

A linear or quadratic dependence between thrust and ve is dependent on the specific type
g , hence on the dependence
of the engine, p of ve from the values m , e , Ae

LRT 2010 Spacecraft Technology I 1.7

Specific Impulse
Th specific
The ifi iimpulse
l iis d
defined
fi d as the
th achievable
hi bl total
t t l momentum
t for
f a given
i propellant
ll t with
ith the
th mass mp.

t
The specific impulse is an important figure of merit of a rocket engine

F dt
F t
I sp : 0

m p g0 m p g0 launch capability

m v t

g 0 m t
bei konstantem Schub
v
I sp Unit: [s]
w
g0
Weight-specific impulse

In Europe, ESA may use mass-specific

impulse:

I sp m v Unit: [m/s]

LRT 2010 Spacecraft Technology I 1.8

 Specific Impulse II

The specific impulse is an important figure of merit of a rocket engine

The higher the specific impulse, the less propellant is needed to gain a given amount of
momentum.
Isp is a measure of the impulse per unit of propellant mass
Note: Thrust is a force. Some engines with high Isp have very low thrust.
Isp is a function of combustion chamber performance and propellant characteristics

LiquidMonopropellants Isp (sec)

Lowenergy monopropellants Hydrazine,ethylene Oxide,HydrogenPeroxide 160 190
Highenergy monopropellants Nitromethane 190 230
LiquidBipropellants
Kerosene Oxygen 301
Flourine 320
Hydrogen Oxygen 390
Flourine 410
UDMHUnsymmetrical dimethyl hydrazine NitrogenteroxideN2O4 260
Hybrid (solidliquid)
HTPB N2O 250
Electric IonEngine
Xenon SMART1HallEffectThruster 1640
Solid Propellants (OxidizerBindercombinations)
SolidPropellants (Oxidizer Binder combinations)
Potassium perchlorate: Thiokolorasphalt 170 210
Ammoniumperchlorate: Thiokol,Rubber 170 210
Polyurethane,Nitrpopolymer 210 250
AmmoniumNitrate Polyester,Rubber
y 170 210
Nitropolymer 210 250

LRT 2010 Spacecraft Technology I 1.9

External Forces

FG Gravitational force

FD - Aerodynamic force (Drag)

FL Aerodynamic force (Lift)

F ext F i F G F D F L ...
i

2 N
2. Newton
t L Law
mv F F
allForces
i F ext

Equation of motion mv m v F ext

LRT 2010 Spacecraft Technology I 1.10

 Definitions

m Current, variable total mass of the rocket

m0 Total launch mass of the rocket
mf Total mass of the rocket at burn-out (final mass)
mp Total propellant mass at launch (propulsion mass)
ms Mass of the structure of the entire launch vehicle
(structure mass, or better: anything else that is neither propellant nor fuel)

mL P l d mass
Payload

m0 m p ms mL
m f m0 m p ms mL

LRT 2010 Spacecraft Technology I 1.11

Rocket Equation Solution for Free Space

m v m v Rocket equation without external forces

(gravity and aerodynamic effects neglected)

1 dm dm
d v v dt v
m dt m
Assumption: v t const
v m
dm
d v v v 0 : v v
v0 m0
m

m
v v ln 0 Rocket equation (vectorial)
m
m0
v v ln Rocket equation (scalar) Ziolkowsky Equation (1903)
m (Tsiolkovskij, Ciolkowsky, Tsiolkowski, Tziolkovsky)
(Note: may have been derived earlier by Moore 1813)
LRT 2010 Spacecraft Technology I 1.12
 v and Propellant Demand

Due to: m m f m0 m p
Propellant demand increases
mp
p v v
1 exp monotonicallyy ((but not linearly!)
y)
m0 with v
Propellant demand of two
v-maneuvers :
m m m
vtotal v ln 0 v ln 0 v ln 1 v1 v2
m2 m1 m2
m1 = Mass of the rocket after the 1. maneuver
With:
m2 = Mass of the rocket after the 2. maneuver

Calculation of the propellant demand:

1. Define and summarize all necessary vi v vi
2 Calculate the propellant demand:
2. i

m p m 0 1 exp v v Not linear!

LRT 2010 Spacecraft Technology I 1.13

v Demand for Interplanetary Missions

Captions
L2 Sun
Blue < 1 km/s 0.14 km/s 5.45 km/s
Green <5 km/s
L1 Sun
Yellow < 10 km/s 0.14 km/s 5.74 km/s
Orange < 20 km/s
L2 Moon
Red > 20 km/s 3.93 km/s 0.07 km/s

4.0 km/s L1 Moon 0.09 km/s Mars

LEO 3.94 km/s GEO

1.61 km/s Moon
Earth

3 96 km/s
3.96 4 88 km/s
4.88
7.6+ km/s
9.6 km/s

11.58 km/s
Minimal energygy transfer orbits are assumed Venus
for all v demands.
27.77 km/s
For interplanetary missions, Hohmann-Transfer- Mercury
Orbits are assumed.
Furthermore the v value includes the injection into
Furthermore,
a 200 km circular orbit.

LRT 2010 Spacecraft Technology I 1.14

 v Examples

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket

LRT 2010 Spacecraft Technology I 1.15

Rocket in a Gravitational Field

Rocket equation mv m v m g 0

dm
v d v v g 0 dt
m
vv
d
dv d g 0 cos 90 dt
dm d
m
vv
dm g 0 sin dt
dt m

Example: Ascent of a rocket in the gravitational field

t
v v0 g 0 sin dt For a preferably large v, the burning time t

0
has to be minimized Rocket motor with
Gravity Loss
high thrust and immediate ignition sequence
sequence.
Vertical: = 90

v v0 g 0t Gravity Loss Term

Gravity-Loss-Term

LRT 2010 Spacecraft Technology I 1.16

 Efficiency of a rocket

Definition:Total-efficiency

kinetic energy of the rocket at cutoff 1

m v2
tot : 2 f f
used energy E0

tot : int ext

Inner efficiency:

created thrust energy 1

m p v2
int
i t 2
Characteristic of engine
used energy E0

External efficiency:
1 2
kinetic energy of the rocket at cutoff 2 mf vf
ext : 1 Universal characteristic
created thrust energy 2
2 m p v

LRT 2010 Spacecraft Technology I 1.17

External efficiency of a Rocket

If the kinetic energy at start of thrusting, v 0 hence v f v0 v v

0

1
m f v 2f 1
m f v 2 mf v 2 1 v 2 v 2 v2
ext
2 2
1
2 m p v2 1
2 m p v2 m0 m f v2 m0 m f 1 v2 expv v 1

Caution: v0 = 0 only makes

v sense for a rocket ascending
1,59362...
v opt from Earth into space. In this
case the potential energy
energy,
gravitational losses, drag and
m f ,opt 20.3% m0 control-losses as absolute
value, have to be considered
for the ascent as well
well.
Additionally, the gained v. is
relevant, not the kinetic
energy. Therefore the external
efficiency is not a good
practical metric.

LRT 2010 Spacecraft Technology I 1.18

 Structure versus Payload
f a given v any mf = mL possible,
Is for
by choosing an appropriate m0 value?
No, since mf includes structural mass m f ms mL
mf ms m L
Mass ratio (also MR) : exp v v
m0 m0
ms ms
Structural ratio :
m0 mL ms m p
mL mL
Payload ratio :
m0 mL ms m p

e v v

1 e v v

Limit of what is v 2.5v

reasonably possible
Limit of what is
reasonably feasible

LRT 2010 Spacecraft Technology I 1.19

Examples

mf ms m L :
ms

ms
:
mL

mL
:
m0 m0 m0 mL ms m p m0 mL ms m p

Launcher Mass ratio Structural ratio Payload ratio

Ariane 4 0.975 0.127
Delta 2 0.077
Delta IV 0.110
Atlas 0.036
Saturn V 0.957

= 0.05 considered the lower achievable limit

LRT 2010 Spacecraft Technology I 1.20

Single Stage to Orbit - SSTO
For LEO v = 9.2 km/s is required
Let structural factor = 7%, v = 4 km/s

Single stage (X-33, Venture-Star): = 3.4%

Two stage (Shuttle C) : = 5.5%

Shuttle System

Venture Star

LRT 2010 LRT 2010X-33 1.211.21