Rockets and Launch Vehicles Selection and Design Training

• Radar Systems Principles Training
• Radar Systems Design & Engineering Training
• Radar Systems Fundamentals Training
• Robotics for Military and Civil Applications Training
• Rockets & Missiles Training Fundamentals

1. Introduction to Rockets and Missiles– The student is introduced to the historic context and practical applications of various types of rocket systems.
2. Classifications of Rockets and Missiles– The classifications, terminology, and uses for various types of rocket systems are presented.
3. Rocket Propulsion Fundamentals– The chemistry and physics of all rockets and rocket nozzles operating to achieve thrust are explained. Rocket performance modeling is introduced.
4. Rocket Environments– The flight environments of rockets, such as acceleration, aero/plume heating, mechanical shock, and vibration are presented. The imposed ground handling loads and pre-launch environmental hazards are also discussed.
5. Aerodynamics and Winds– The effect of winds, atmospheric density, and flight velocity on the lift, drag, and dynamic pressure is explained. Rocket shape, stability, and venting are discussed.
6. Performance Analysis and Staging– The use of performance modeling and loss factors is defined. The staging theory for multi-stage rockets is explained.
7. Mass Properties and Propellant Selection– The relative importance of specific impulse, density, temperature, storability, ignition properties, stability, toxicity, material compatibility, and ullage are explained. Monopropellants and cold gas propellants are introduced.
8. Introduction to Solid Rocket Motors– The historical and technological aspects of Solid Rocket Motors is explored. Solid rocket materials, propellants, thrust profiles, construction, cost advantages, and special applications are explained.
9. Fundamentals of Hybrid Rockets– The characteristics, advantages, and disadvantages of solid-liquid hybrid rocket systems are discussed.
10. Liquid Rocket Engines– Pressure and pump-fed liquid rocket engines are explained, including injectors, cooling, chamber construction, pump cycles, ignition, and thrust vector control.
11. Introducing the Liquid Rocket Stage – Liquid rocket stages are introduced, including tank systems, pressurization, cryogenics, and other structures
12. Thrust Vector Control– Thrust Vector Control system types, characteristics, and practical considerations for keeping a rocket vehicle on a desired trajectory are explained.
13. Basic Rocket Avionics– Flight electronics elements of Guidance, Navigation, Control, Communications, Telemetry, Range Safety, and Payloads are defined.
14. Modern Expendable Launch Vehicles– Good expendable launch vehicle design characteristics are identified, with examples of alternative design features.
15. Rockets in Spacecraft Propulsion– The differences between systems on spacecraft, satellites, and transfer stages, operating in microgravity, are examined.
16. Launch Sites and Operations– The role and purpose of launch sites, and the choices available for a launch operations infrastructure, are explored.
17. Useful Orbits & Trajectories Made Simple– A simplified presentation of orbital mechanics, for the understanding of rocket propulsion in orbital trajectories and maneuvers, is provided.
18. Safety of Rocket Systems– The hazards, risks, and practical mitigation measures in rocket launch operations are examined.
19. Reliability of Rocket Systems– Reliability, and strategies to improve reliability, are discussed, including random and systematic failures, reliability environments, quality, robustness, and redundancy.
20. Reusable Launch Vehicle Theory– Fully and partially Reusable Launch Vehicle characteristics are introduced, with a focus on analyzing the costs of recovery and reuse of the various launch vehicle elements.
21. Rocket Cost Principles – Cost estimation methods of modeling launch systems and strategies for cost reduction. Integrated modeling and the role of incentives are introduced.
22. Chemical Rocket Propulsion Alternatives– Alternatives to chemical rocket propulsion include air-breathing, nuclear, thermal, cannons, and tethers explored.
23. The proliferation of Missile Technology– Foreign missile threat assessment, and issues surrounding the proliferation of enabling missile technologies.
24. The Future of Rockets and Missiles– The current trends and potential direction of rocket technology, usage, and regulations.
25. Selecting and Designing Launch Vehicles.– The launch vehicle optimization processes for both designing and selecting a launch vehicle for a given space mission. Design/selection rationale includes time and circumstances of launch requirements and other reasons for choosing a particular launch system.
26. The Goals and Incentives of Launch Vehicle Design– Setting goals and incentives for a successful project. Goals and incentives of the past explain future successes and failures
27. Optimum Launch Vehicle Design Strategies– Optimum design strategies and potential evolution of a launch vehicle design into a family of variants with a broader range of capabilities. Case studies of Soyuz, Delta, Falcon, and others illustrate which strategies have been successful, and how bad assumptions have led to problems in others.

Rockets and Launch Vehicles Selection and Design Training Course Wrap-Up