Title:
An Approach for Calculating the Cost of Launch Vehicle Reliability
An Approach for Calculating the Cost of Launch Vehicle Reliability
Author(s)
Krevor, Zachary C.
Wilhite, Alan W.
Wilhite, Alan W.
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Abstract
The goal of this paper is to determine the cost of increasing launch vehicle reliability
during conceptual design. The launch vehicle mission requirements are held constant while
various reliability strategies are evaluated for their affects on different performance and
cost metrics. Traditional design disciplines, such as trajectory analysis and propulsion
are included within the performance analysis while the cost discipline focuses on launch
vehicle development and production cost. The reliability modeling is developed specifically
for application to launch vehicles. A design environment is created that integrates the
performance, cost, and reliability disciplines for use with optimization. The integrated
environment is utilized to determine a set of optimal design configurations based on a
specific weighting of cost and reliability. Different design options for the Cargo Launch
Vehicle from the Exploration System Architecture Study are considered and the final result
is a set of configurations optimized for a particular weighting of cost and reliability.
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Date Issued
2007-09
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Text
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Paper