Pulsed laser thermal propulsion for interstellar precursor missions

Details Pulsed laser thermal propulsion for interstellar precursor missions Pulsed laser thermal propulsion for interstellar precursor missions

Jan 2000

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2000aipc..504.1278k&link_type=abstract

SPACE TECHNOLOGY AND APPLICATIONS INTERNATIONAL FORUM - 2000. AIP Conference Proceedings, Volume 504, pp. 1278-1284 (2000).

Other

Ion And Plasma Propulsion, Doped-Insulator Lasers And Other Solid State Lasers, Spaceborne And Space Research Instruments, Apparatus, And Components

Scientific paper

A laser-thermal propulsion system is proposed for launching large numbers of small interstellar precursor probes at velocities up to ~300 km/s (0.001 c). This system uses a stationary pulsed laser, based on Earth or in near-Earth space, to beam energy to probe vehicles during their initial acceleration. Each vehicle collects laser energy using a deployable reflector, and focuses the laser energy into a thruster. The focused laser pulses ablate and heat an inert propellant, which expands to produce thrust at a selectable specific impulse up to of order 20,000 seconds (exhaust velocity up to 200 km/s). This technology permits the vehicles to be simple and light, while allowing much higher acceleration than alternative propulsion systems. The laser system is ideal for launching large numbers of flyby probes, for example to examine many objects in the Oort cloud. A laser system with 30-meter-class transmitting optics and a 100-MW laser is capable of launching 100 kg payloads to 50 km/s, with payload mass fraction (probe payload / probe initial mass in Earth orbit) of 10-20%. The same system can launch much larger payloads to lower velocities for Solar System exploration. Scaling relationships are derived and scaling options discussed, along with possible near-term development and proof-of-concept tests. .

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