The case for smaller launch vehicles in human space exploration (part 1)

Posted on: Jan. 3rd, 2006 || Source: thespacereview.com | E-mail Article | Print Article

One of the cornerstones of NASA’s exploration plans is the development of a shuttle-derived heavy-lift launch vehicle. In the first of a two-part report, Grant Bonin makes the case for abandoning that effort in favor of multiple launches of smaller rockets.

Heavy-lift launch vehicles (HLLVs) are regarded by many as the key technology for an aggressive, sustainable program of human spaceflight beyond low Earth orbit. Indeed, decades of both lunar and Mars mission analysis have been dominated by plans calling for the development of at least Saturn 5-class launch technology, capable of delivering 100 metric tons (tonnes) or more to low orbit—and on the surface, this would seem quite prudent. Any human expedition beyond Earth will necessarily mass hundreds of tonnes initially, and since bigger boosters can carry much larger amounts of payload in far fewer launches, they have been championed by a majority of astronautical engineers as the most cost-effective way to shoot for the stars...

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