Improved Range Safety Methodologies for Long-Duration Heavy-Lift Balloon Missions over Populated Regions (original) (raw)
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Progress in space safety lies in the acceptance of safety design and engineering as an integral part of the design and implementation process for new space systems. Safety must be seen as the principle design driver of utmost importance from the outset of the design process, which is only achieved through a culture change that moves all stakeholders toward front-end loaded safety concepts. This approach entails a common understanding and mastering of basic principles of safety design for space systems at all levels of the program organisation. Fully supported by the International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety (IAASS), written by the leading figures in the industry, with frontline experience from projects ranging from the Apollo missions, Skylab, the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station, this book provides a comprehensive reference for aerospace engineers in industry.It addresses each of the key elements that impact on space systems safety, including: t...
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The two space anomalies that occurred in October 2014 brought home, once again, the fact that space activities are dangerous. The U.S. Congress had acknowledged this fact by characterizing space transportation as "inherently risky" in the Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act of 2004. While that description does not go as far as to say space activities can never be safe or are completely unsafe, it includes the tacit understanding that space transportation provides complex and sometimes unique challenges. While some of these challenges are engendered by the realities of space systems operationally, others arise from the perspective of how much safety is legally required and for whom. The immediate article attempts to provide an overview of the legal underpinnings of space safety and some of the implications arising from current space policy. It will begin with some historical context, proceed to describe the current international and domestic legal and policy environment, identify some key emerging issues, and end with brief recommendations. * Assistant Professor, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Gratitude is given to FIU Law and Dean Alex Acosta for hosting the symposium, and to the editorial staff of the FIU Law Review for their gracious assistance.
Improved Range Safety Analysis for Space Vehicles Using Range Safety Template Toolkit
This paper discusses an alternative to traditional methodologies for space launch and re-entry vehicle range safety analysis using the Range Safety Template Toolkit (RSTT), developed by Australia's Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) in partnership with Aerospace Concepts Pty Ltd. RSTT offers rapid generation of mission-specific safety templates that comply with internationally-recognised standards for range risk criteria. Compared to some traditional methods, RSTT produces more accurate assessments of risk to personnel and infrastructure. This provides range operators with greater confidence in the range safety products, enhancing their ability to rigorously manage safety on their ranges. RSTT also offers increased precision of risk analysis and iteration of mission design allowing greater flexibility in planning range operations with rapid feedback on the safety impact of mission changes. These concepts are explored through examples involving a suborbital sounding rocket, demonstrating how traditional range safety assumptions may be reassessed using the RSTT robust probabilistic methodology.
Simulation of range safety for the NASA space shuttle
Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, 2006
PurposeThe main objective of this paper is to introduce the development of a decision‐support environment for a complex problem: space range safety. Simulation modeling can provide a good environment to support range safety managers.Design/methodology/approachThe paper describes the different models and the processes to find the different knowledge sources. In addition, it investigates statistically the most important factors. This will help determine emergency management procedures and sources of variability.FindingsThis case study provides guidance and an example to follow for other problems in aerospace (in particular new the analysis of new vehicles). There are important factors to consider in order to implement risk management in National Aeronautics and Space Administration.Research limitations/implicationsThere are several limitations; blast and debris effects need to be added.Practical implicationsFirst, it provides a guide in order to persuade managers of the utilization of...
The expected diversity in the kinds of vehicles that are currently appearing in the commercial space transportation sector raises questions about the possibility of improvements to current methodologies for licensing launch and reentry operations in use by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). These licensing procedures are designed to limit risks to public health and safety to acceptable levels and have served us well until now. Concerns may arise because the majority of methods in use are derived from expendable launch vehicles (ELVs) and the space shuttle era, and the possibility exists that they may be overly conservative. To investigate the extent to which the current methodology may be improved, an open source analysis environment for assessing the safety of the uninvolved public on the ground has been developed. The safety analysis environment is called Range Safety Assessment Tool (RSAT), it can be used for launch and reentry operations and, in principle, can be applied for all kinds of vehicle configurations that may be proposed. RSAT uses random sampling techniques to calculate statistics of interest associated with ground risks due to vehicle malfunctions. The risks being modeled include inert and explosive debris effects, debris toxic gas dispersion, and blast overpressure due to vehicle explosions. Special consideration is given to quantifying the risk to the uninformed public by computing the appropriate safety metrics, which in this case is the value of the expected casualty per mission (ET C). As part of this analysis environment, a 3-degree-of-freedom (DOF) trajectory optimization tool that uses a pseudospectral collocation method has been developed and is used to establish nominal trajectories for a number of different kinds of missions. In this paper, we present RSAT's major components and characteristics, and its predictive capabilities to analyze realistic launch and reentry accident scenarios. The output of the environment is verified and validated with existing data and previous calculations done with existing tools.
SPACE SAFETY IS NO ACCIDENT HOW THE AEROSPACE CORPORATION PROMOTES SPACE SAFETY
The Aerospace Corporation (Aerospace) conducts extensive space safety activities as a part of its overall mission assurance responsibilities. This paper spotlights safety insights gleaned by Aerospace from past space mishaps. It also explains how Aerospace conducts cross-program analysis, extracts lessons, codifies best practices, and shares its broad knowledge base across the space community.
IAC-09-D2.2.09 Space Launch & Re-Entry Risk Hazard Analysis – a New Capability
Australia has recently introduced a new capability for space launch and re-entry Risk Hazard Analysis (RHA) into service. This capability, called the Range Safety Template Toolkit (RSTT), was originally developed for air-launched guided weapons but is now being applied to two very different space safety applications. The first is the US/Australia HIFiRE hypersonics research program and the other is the return to Earth of the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Hayabusa spacecraft in mid-2010. RSTT offers rapid (minutes to hours) generation of mission-specific safety templates. The templates can be combined with geospatial information, such as asset locations and population densities, to provide casualty and damage estimates for operational planning and safety analysis. The templates are generated from a set of ground impact points generated specifically for the mission. Creation of the ground impact point database for a mission is a computationally-intensive activity that simulates all (reasonably) possible failures and trajectories using a Six-Degree-of-Freedom (6-DOF) model of the vehicle system including Failure Response Modes (FRMs). RSTT is able to support experimental vehicle design by including design parameter tolerances as part of the launch envelope thus eliminating the need to 'lock down' design before producing an RHA. It also includes a new methodology for predicting the breakup of vehicles called 'fractal fragmentation'. This estimates the distribution of fragments based on successive breakup into smaller fragments, the 'degree' being dependent on the excess energy available. It seamlessly handles explosions, aerodynamic breakup, and combined events.
Public Risk Criteria and Rationale for Commercial Launch and Reentry Final.docx
This paper summarizes the rationale for risk criteria intended to protect the public during commercial spaceflight, including launch, reentry, and suborbital missions. The recommended approach includes: (1) safety goals to guide periodic updates of the quantitative collective risk limits if warranted based on the quantity of launch and reentry missions; the demonstrated safety record and benefits provided; technological capabilities and maturity of the industry; and contemporary attitudes about the risks from commercial space transportation; (2) separate limits on the risks from each type of mission with explicit definitions of the extent of launch and reentry missions; and (3) quantitative risk limits consistent with the safety goals. For current conditions, the author’s recommends (a) maximum of 1E-6 probability of casualty per-mission (b) a maximum of 100E-6 expected casualties per-mission, and (c) equal per-mission risk limits for orbital and suborbital launches, as well as controlled and uncontrolled reentries.