Next Giant Leap for America

To The Moon – Uncle Sam

By:
Dr. Ajay P. Kothari
President
Astrox Corporation

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Why Moon? A Dozen Whys
1. Been there – Yes. Done that – No.
2. This is doable in near future - 4 to 8 years as opposed to Mars
which may be 10-20 years away (almost during an
administration’s term)
3. Building habitats and small colonies (100-1000 Americans)
with human beings is exciting, eye-catching and alluring
endeavor with much continuous interest that would be
developed with US public and even worldwide population
4. Their activities can be broadcast live which can be a revenue
stream
5. Such interest in public should be built before asking the
taxpayers for more money required for Mars missions
6. It would be substantially less costly than Mars missions

Copyright 2017 Astrox Corporation 2

Why Moon?
7. It is absolutely necessary to learn to live with small G and no
atmosphere before venturing out far away which is six months
travel time which is highly risky for life
8. A doctor can make a “Moon-house call” to the Moon but not so
for Mars – it would be too late!
9. We need to learn to build structures to the tee before venturing
out far
10. Moon as a roundtrip destination for tourism is much more
palatable than Mars – it is only two weeks out of one’s life!
11. God has been kind to us to give us something to practice on –
let us take advantage of that!
12. We should have plans to go to Mars also – but not as the next
step for the country.

Copyright 2017 Astrox Corporation 3

Access to Space TSTO Design Options
Size Comparison

ER-ER RR-ER RR-RR RR- TBCC- TBCC- TBCC- TJ-RBCC

Option 0 Option 1 Option 2 RBCC RR ER_b RR_c Option 5
Option 3 Option 4 Option 4b Option 4c

Copyright 2017 Astrox Corporation 4

Direct Operating Cost (DOC) per Pound
of Payload for Different Launch Rates
Direct Operating Cost (DOC) per Pound of Payload
Hybrids have
mid level DOC
$12,000
per pound of
Launch Rate: 5 Per Year Payload
$10,000 Launch Rate: 10 Per Year
Launch Rate: 20 Per Year
Expendables Launch Rate: 30 Per Year
have much $8,000 Launch Rate: 100 Per Year ~$340 per
higher DOC pound price
per pound $6,000
of Payload achievable
$4,000
with rate of
$2,000 100+ flights
$0
with reusable
0 ER-ER 1 RR-
ER
2 RR-
RR
3 RR- 4 TBCC-
RBCC RR
4b
TBCC-
4c
TBCC-
5 TJ-
RBCC
architecture
ER_b RR_c

Reusables are the only way to drastically reduce the DOC per pound of Payload

Options 2 & 3 have the lowest DOC regardless of flight frequency

Copyright 2017 Astrox Corporation 5

Apollo

• Apollo took only LEM to the Moon. Now we will take the
entire second stage to the Moon and use it as habitat
• This has become possible because SpaceX has reduced the
mass fraction of second stage to ~4%

Copyright 2017 Astrox Corporation 6

Delta V Subway Diagram (in m/s)

Pay attention ONLY to

this portion

Courtesy: http://i.imgur.com/AAGJvD1.png 7
Copyright 2017 Astrox Corporation
SpaceX Falcon 9 v 1.2 (Block 3) – Refueling Option
Payload

Falcon 9 Falcon 9 Payload to LEO 28.5 deg = 22,800 kg

Stage 1 - Stage 2 -
"v1.2" (Block 3) "v1.2" (Block
Merlin 1D Full 3)
Thrust
Version
Merlin 1D Full
Thrust • Stage 2 of Flight 1 (with payload) is
Estimated Version
Estimated in parking orbit
Diameter (m) 3.66 m 3.66 m
• It is empty of fuel now with total
Length (m) ~40.9 m (est)
not incl I/S
~16.0 m
incl I/S
weight of ~27.3 t
Empty Mass (tonnes) ~27.2 t?
burnout
~4.5 t? • It is refilled at ~22.8 t (payload
burnout
Propellant Mass (tonnes) ~411 t? ~111.5 t?
weight which is not included any
used
used more) at a time with each
Total Mass (tonnes) ~438.2 t? ~116.0 t?
subsequent Falcon 9 flight
Engine Merlin 1D FT Merlin 1D Vac
FT • Trans Lunar Injection requires 9400
Engine Mfgr SpaceX SpaceX
m/s =~ 10,600 f/s DeltaV or PF of
Fuel RP1 RP1
~.61 for RP1/LOX engine
Oxidizer LOX LOX
• FOUR refueling flights would
Thrust ~694 t
(SL tons) - produce PF= 0.77 which is enough
Thrust
(Vac tons)
~757 t 95.255 t for TLI plus LLO (DeltaV = 680 m/s =
ISP (SL sec) 283 s? - 2230 f/s) plus Moon landing
ISP (Vac sec)
312 s? 348 s? (DeltaV=1730 m/s=5676 f/s)
162 s 397 s • 2 tanks are then used as habitats
Burn Time (sec)

No. Engines 9 1

Courtesy: www.spacelaunchreport.com

Copyright 2017 Astrox Corporation 8

Falcon 9 v 1.2 Stage 2 (5 copies) - Mated in Orbit

Orbit – Easterly from KSC (CCAFB)

at 28.5 deg to LEO
Payload

• Mating (or refueling) occurs outside the

atmosphere at 100 nm or higher altitude
• All subsequent second stages are mated in
orbit with the first one
• Each second stage lands vertically on the
Moon OR one remains in orbit (with some
fuel)
• 10 or 8 tanks are then used as habitats
• The additional weight of each extra second
stage of 4.5 t reduces the PF to 0.67 but the
advantage is having more habitats (some of
Moon the payload will have to be propellant)
Legs

Merlin 1D vac Engine

Copyright 2017 Astrox Corporation 9

 Generic Experimental Spaceplane (GXS-1)
Aircraft-like space access for the 21st century

A DARPA Program
Program Manager is Mr. Jess Sponable

The following presentation using Generic XS-1 is NOT

on behalf of DARPA, but has been derived from their
publically released presentation and other publically
available information

Released for public use on 16 April 2016

Distribution Statement A: Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.

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10
Generic LH2/LOX System (XS-1 like = GXS-1 Bimese) –
Refueling Option
Payload to LEO 28.5 deg = 16,400 kg
Bimese GXS-1
GXS-1 GXS-1 Stage 2 -
AUSEP Full Payload
Stage 1 - Stage 1 -
Thrust
SSME Full SSME Full • Stage 2 of Flight 1 (with payload) is
Version
Thrust Thrust
Estimated
in parking orbit
Diameter
5 5 4.0
• It is empty of fuel now with total
(m)
Length (m) 34 34 18.5
weight of ~22.4 t (16.4+6)
Empty 32 32 6 • It is refilled at ~16.4 t (payload
Mass
(tonnes) burnout burnout burnout weight which is not included any
Propellant 141 141 43.4
Mass more) at a time with each
used used used
(tonnes) subsequent Bimese GXS-1 flight
Total Mass
(tonnes)
173 173 50.4 • Trans Lunar Injection requires 9400
Engine SSME SSME AUSEP m/s =~ 10,600 f/s DeltaV or PF of
Payload
(tonnes)
16.4 ~.53 for LH2/LOX engine
Fuel LH2 LH2 LH2 • FOUR refueling flights would
Oxidizer LOX LOX LOX produce PF= 0.75 which is enough
Thrust
(SL klbf)
418 418 N/A for TLI plus LLO (DeltaV = 680 m/s =
Thrust 2230 f/s) plus Moon landing
512 512 120
(Vac klbf) (DeltaV=1730 m/s=5676 f/s)
ISP (SL
sec)
374 374 N/A • 2 tanks are then used as habitats
ISP (Vac Stage 1
452 452 464
sec)
Burn Time
274 274 378
(sec)
No.
Engines
*GXS-1
1 = Generic
1 XS-1
1

Copyright 2017 Astrox Corporation 11

Generic LH2/LOX System (XS-1 like = GXS-1 Bimese) (5 copies)
- Mated in Orbit
Orbit – Easterly from KSC (CCAFB)
at 28.5 deg to LEO
Payload
• Mating (or refueling) occurs outside the
atmosphere at 100 nm or higher altitude
• All second stages are mated in orbit
• Each second stage lands vertically on
the Moon or one remains in orbit (with
some fuel)
• 10 or 8 tanks are then used as habitats
• The additional weight of each extra
second stage of 6 t reduces the PF to
0.59 but the advantage is having more
habitats (some of the payload will have
to be propellant)

Moon
Legs

AUSEP Engine

No fairing or Interstage structure 12

Copyright 2017 Astrox Corporation
SpaceX Falcon Heavy

Saturn V: Falcon Heavy:

Height: 110.6 m (363 ft) 70 m (230 ft)
Diameter: 10.1 m (33 ft) 12.2 m (40 ft)
2,970,000 kg 1,420,788 kg
Weight: Payload to LEO 28.5 deg
(6,540,000 lbs) (3,132,301 lb)
Stages: 3 2+ = 54,400 kg
Engines:
1st Stage 5 Rocketdyne F-1 3 x 9 Merlin 1D
2nd stage 5 Rocketdyne J-2 1 Merlin 1D
3rd stage 1 Rocketdyne J-2
Thrust: 7,607 kN (SL)
1st stage 34,020 kN 8,227 kN (Vac)
2nd stage 4,400 kN 934 kN
3rd stage 1,000 kN N/A
140,000 kg 54,400 kg
Payload (LEO):
(310,000 lbs) (119,900 lbs)
48,600 kg 16,000 kg
Payload (TLI):
(107,100 lbs) (35,000 lbs)

The layout of the 27 Merlin 1D

engines on Falcon Heavy

Courtesy: www.BusinessInsider.com
Copyright 2017 Astrox Corporation 13
SpaceX Falcon Heavy – Refueling Option
Payload

Payload to LEO 28.5 deg = 54,400 kg

• Stage 2 of Flight 1 (with payload) is in parking

orbit
• It is empty of fuel now with total weight of ~ 58.9 t
(54.4+4.5)
• It is refilled at ~54.4 t (payload weight which is not
included any more) at a time with each subsequent
Falcon 9 flight
• Trans Lunar Injection requires 9400 m/s =~ 10,600
f/s DeltaV or PF of ~.61 for RP1/LOX engine
• FOUR refueling flights would produce PF= 0.79
which is enough for TLI plus LLO (DeltaV = 680
m/s = 2230 f/s) plus Moon landing (DeltaV=1730
m/s=5676 f/s)
• 2 tanks are then used as habitats

Copyright 2017 Astrox Corporation 14

Falcon Heavy Stage 2 (5 copies) - Mated in Orbit

Orbit – Easterly from KSC (CCAFB)

Payload at 28.5 deg to LEO

• Mating (or refueling) occurs outside the

atmosphere at 100 nm or higher altitude
• All subsequent second stages are mated in
orbit with the first one
• Each second stage lands vertically on the
Moon
• 10 tanks are then used as habitats
• The additional weight of each extra second
stage of 4.5 t reduces the PF to 0.74 but the
advantage is having more habitats (some of
the payload will have to be propellant)
Moon • The 54.4 t payload can NOW RATHER
Legs EASILY include LEM+CM

Merlin 1D vac Engine

Copyright 2017 Astrox Corporation 15

 Empty Propellant Tanks as “Homes” on Moon

All tanks will be covered with Lunar soil (not shown)

LOX tank
L ~ 12 ft
D ~ 13 ft
LH2 tank
L ~ 30 ft
D ~ 13 ft

Copyright 2017 Astrox Corporation 16

Lunar Colony

All tanks will be covered with Lunar soil (as shown)

Courtesy: ESA 17
Lunar Colony

All tanks will be covered with Lunar soil (not shown)

Courtesy: NASA 18
Costs and Final Thoughts

• SpaceX is planning to charge ~$93 million per Falcon Heavy flight

• So ~54,400 kg payload plus 22.5 t of tanks would cost ~$465 million which is
~$6,047 per kg to Moon or $2740 per pound – less than what expendables cost
• This means a 150 Kg person including baggage would cost less than ~$1 million
• GXS-1 could even be cheaper
• American Lunar colonies are possible, tourism is possible, and all would form a
needed first step for humanity before venturing out farther – a necessary condition
• It should be done as a synergistic effort between the Government (NASA) and the
commercial space companies. One scenario can be NASA managing the effort and
the colonies with commercial companies providing the lift and other facilities.
• Other countries (China, Russia etc) are going to go there and will invariably stake a
claim there – WE NEED TO BE THERE ALSO
• It is not easy but is doable and at lower costs

President Kennedy: “We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things,
not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to
organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that
we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win.
WE MUST DO THIS

Copyright 2017 Astrox Corporation 19

Backups

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Reusability: SpaceX, Blue Origin and DARPA – the 4R Club

• It appears that the constant haranguing about going the reusable route has
had an effect! ()
• SpaceX and Blue Origin both have rightly hung their fortunes on
usefulness and potential impact of reusability and gone whole hog on that.
So has DARPA now.
• THEY HAVE SUCCEEDED AS WELL – ON MARCH 30, 2017, SPACEX
FINALLY PROVED A POSSIBLE REUSE FOR THE FIRST STAGE OF AN
ORBITAL SYSTEM
• It is necessary according to my calculations that the reusable stages have
to be reused 200+ times to reach the cost goals I have mentioned above
which actually is higher than what Elon Musk mentions!
• So a higher success rate than what we have so far is imperative (50%
success rate will not do). It has to be Robust and Reusable.
Robust Reusable Rocket Revolution – the 4R Club, like the 4H club of past

Copyright 2017 Astrox Corporation 21

SpaceX Vertical Landing (VTVL for Falcon 9)

• SpaceX booster goes to much higher velocity and farther out (orbital
flights) than Blue Origin’s and is reusable

Lands vertically –
right thing to perfect
for Moon or Mars
landings of future

Copyright 2017 Astrox Corporation 22

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Bigelow Habitat

Courtesy: Bigelow Aerospace 23