Abstract: The ability to substantially reduce the cost of planetary missions lies not only in the cost reductions to be found in spacecraft design but also in choice of launch vehicle. smaller launch vehicles are cheaper but are also less capable at lofting...
Abstract: Scorpius is a Microcosm program to develop an entirely new launch vehicle family with the objective of reducing total launch cost by a factor of 10. This paper reports on progress since the program was publicly introduced at the 9th AIAA/USU Conference....
Abstract: Many programs presented at prior USU meetings have been exceptionally successful at reducing the cost of space missions. Typically this is done by a variety of mechanisms that change fundamental characteristics of how business is done in space. (The missions...
Abstract: Scorpius is a Microcosm program to develop an entirely new launch vehicle family with the objective of reducing overall launch system cost by a factor of 10. This paper reports on the progress and problems since the program was publicly introduced at the 9th...
Abstract: Scorpius is a Microcosm program to develop an entirely new launch vehicle family with the following objectives: Better than 99% reliability Launch within 8 hours of payload arrival at the launch site Weather and equipment delays comparable to commercial...