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Power and Propulsion Element

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An image of the Lunar Gateway identifying the Power and Propulsion Element, along with the other modules planned.

The Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) previously known as the Asteroid Redirect Vehicle propulsion system is a planned solar electric ion propulsion module being developed by Maxar Technologies for NASA and the Lunar Gateway. The PPE originally started development at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory as a part of the now canceled Asteroid Redirect Mission. When ARM was cancelled, the solar electric propulsion was repurposed as the PPE for the Gateway.[1][2] The PPE will allow access to the entire lunar surface and a wide range of lunar orbits and double as a space tug for visiting craft.[3][4] The PPE is designed to be able to transfer the reusable Gateway to Mars Orbit.[4] It will also serve as the communications center of the Gateway.[5] The PPE is intended to have a mass of 8–9 tons and the capability to generate 50 kW[6] of solar electric power for its ion thrusters, which can be supplemented by chemical propulsion.[7] It is currently planned to launch on a commercial launch vehicle in November 2023 with the HALO module.[8][9][10][11]

Development

Asteroid Redirect Vehicle bus

The PPE as the Asteroid Redirect Vehicle for the ARM.

The Asteroid Redirect Vehicle was a robotic, high performance solar electric spacecraft for the Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM). The mission was to send the spacecraft to a near-Earth asteroid and capture a multi-ton boulder from the surface with a grappling device. It would then transport the asteroid into orbit around the moon where crewed missions to study it could be conducted more easily.[2][12] The mission was canceled in early 2017 and the spacecraft's propulsion segment became the Power and Propulsion module for the Deep Space Gateway, now known as the Lunar Gateway.[1]

Reusable Space Tug missions

During the Asteroid Redirect Mission, space tug missions were purposed to separate Mars logistics that can spend a longer time in space than the crew into a separate mission, which could have reduced the costs by as much as 60% (if using advanced solar electric propulsion (ion engines)[13]). They would also reduce the overall mission risk by enabling check-out of critical systems at Mars before the crew departs Earth. This way if something goes wrong in those logistics, the crew is not in danger and the hardware can simply be fixed or relaunched.[14][15][16][17][18][19]

Not only would the solar electric propulsion (SEP) technologies and designs be applied to future missions, but the ARM spacecraft would be left in a stable orbit for reuse.[14][16][15] The project had baselined any of multiple refueling capabilities. The asteroid-specific payload was at one end of the spacecraft bus, either for possible removal and replacement via future servicing, or as a separable, reusable spacecraft, leaving a qualified space tug in cislunar space. This made adaption for Gateway easy, as the propulsion system was already designed to be multi-mission reusable.[20][21][22][23][24] When the ARM was canceled however, development on the bus and any reusable tug ideas died, temporarily.[1]

Lunar Gateway Power and Propulsion Element

In 2017, a year after the Artemis Program came into existence, the ARM space tug/propulsion bus was dusted off and repurposed as the main propulsion system for the Lunar Gateway space station, and officially became known as the Power and Propulsion Element or PPE.[1] The PPE will be a smaller version of the Asteroid Redirect bus.[1][11] The Lunar Gateway was eventually broken off from Artemis as a separate program to ensure the speedy moon landing by 2024 with out having to wait for the gateway to be completed, so the PPE is no longer a necessary part of Artemis either.[25][26]

Commercial Company Studies

On 1 November 2017, NASA commissioned 5 studies lasting four months into affordable ways to develop the Power and Propulsion Element (PPE), hopefully leveraging private companies' plans. These studies had a combined budget of $2.4 million. The companies performing the PPE studies were Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Orbital ATK, Sierra Nevada and Space Systems/Loral.[27][6] These awards are in addition to the ongoing set of NextSTEP-2 awards made in 2016 to study development and make ground prototypes of habitat modules that could be used on the Gateway as well as other commercial applications,[28] so the Gateway is likely to incorporate components developed under NextSTEP as well.[6][29] NASA officials stated that the most likely ion engine to be used on the PPE is the 14 kW Hall thruster called Advanced Electric Propulsion System (AEPS) which has an Isp of up to 2,600 s (25 km/s). The engine is being developed by Glenn Research Center, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Aerojet Rocketdyne. The four identical AEPS engines would consume 50 kW generated by the solar arrays.[30]

Contract Awarded

In May 2019, Maxar Technologies was contracted by NASA to manufacture this module, which will also supply the station with electrical power and is based on Maxar's 1300 series satellite bus.[31] The PPE will use Advanced Electric Propulsion System (AEPS) Hall-effect thrusters.[32][33] Maxar was awarded a firm-fixed price contract of US$375 million to build the PPE. Maxar's SSL business unit, previously known as Space Systems/Loral, will lead the project. Maxar stated they will receive help from Blue Origin and Draper on the project, with Blue Origin assisting in human-rating and safety aspect while Draper will work with trajectory and navigation development.[5] NASA is supplying the PPE with an S-band communications system to provide a radio link with nearby vehicles and a passive docking adapter to receive the Gateway's future utilization module.[5] Maxar stated they are experienced dealing with high power components from making satellites. They did mention that their satellites are around 20 to 30 kilowatts, while the PPE will be about 60 kilowatts, but they say much of the technology they have already developed will still be applicable.[5] After a one-year demonstration period, NASA would then "exercise a contract option to take over control of the spacecraft".[26] Its expected service time is about 15 years.[25]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "NASA closing out Asteroid Redirect Mission". SpaceNews.com. 2017-06-14. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Asteroid Redirect Robotic Mission". www.jpl.nasa.gov. NASA. Archived from the original on 30 May 2019. Retrieved 30 May 2019. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  3. ^ "NASA Awards Artemis Contract for Lunar Gateway Power, Propulsion" (Press release). NASA. 23 May 2019. Archived from the original on 20 September 2019. Retrieved 11 December 2019. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  4. ^ a b "Deep Space Gateway and Transport: Concepts for Mars, Moon Exploration Unveiled". Science News. Archived from the original on 30 May 2019. Retrieved 2019-05-30.
  5. ^ a b c d Clark, Stephen. "NASA chooses Maxar to build keystone module for lunar Gateway station". Spaceflight Now. Archived from the original on 5 June 2019. Retrieved 2019-05-30.
  6. ^ a b c Foust, Jeff (3 November 2017). "NASA issues study contracts for Deep Space Gateway element". SpaceNews. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  7. ^ Chris Gebhardt. "NASA finally sets goals, missions for SLS – eyes multi-step plan to Mars". NASASpaceflight. Archived from the original on 21 August 2017. Retrieved April 9, 2017.
  8. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 16 May 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. ^ https://spaceflightnow.com/2020/05/06/nasa-plans-to-launch-first-two-gateway-elements-on-same-rocket/ Archived 6 May 2020 at the Wayback Machine – 7 May 2020
  10. ^ "NASA FY 2019 Budget Overview" (PDF). NASA. 9 February 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 August 2019. Retrieved 11 December 2019. Supports launch of the Power and Propulsion Element on a commercial launch vehicle as the first component of the LOP-Gateway. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  11. ^ a b Foust, Jeff (30 March 2018). "NASA considers acquiring more than one gateway propulsion module". SpaceNews. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  12. ^ Greicius, Tony (2016-09-20). "JPL Seeks Robotic Spacecraft Development for Asteroid Redirect Mission". NASA. Archived from the original on 17 June 2019. Retrieved 30 May 2019. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  13. ^ Tate, Karl (2013-04-10). "How to Catch an Asteroid: NASA Mission Explained (Infographic)". Space.com. TechMediaNetwork. Retrieved 2015-03-26.
  14. ^ a b Cassady, J.; Maliga, K.; Overton, S.; Martin, T.; Sanders, S.; Joyner, C.; Kokam, T.; Tantardini, M. (2015). "Next Steps in the Evolvable Path to Mars". Proceedings of the IAC.
  15. ^ a b Craig, D. Evolvable Mars Campaign. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  16. ^ a b Troutman, P. (July 30, 2014). The Evolvable Mars Campaign: the Moons of Mars as a Destination.
  17. ^ Howell, E. (May 8, 2015). "Human Mars Plan: Phobos by 2033, Martian Surface by 2039?". space.com. Retrieved October 9, 2016.
  18. ^ McElratht, T.; Elliott, J. (Jan 2014). "There and Back again: Using planet-based SEP tugs to repeatably aid interplanetary payloads". Advances in the Astronautical Sciences (152): 2279–2298.
  19. ^ Price, Humphrey W.; Woolley, Ryan; Strange, Nathan J.; Baker, John D. (2014). "Human Missions to Mars Orbit, Phobos, and Mars Surface Using 100-kWe-Class Solar Electric Propulsion". AIAA SPACE 2014 Conference and Exposition. doi:10.2514/6.2014-4436. ISBN 978-1-62410-257-8.
  20. ^ Manzanek, D. (May 20, 2016). The Asteroid Redirect Mission. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  21. ^ Gates, M.; Manzanek, D. (June 28, 2016). Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM). {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  22. ^ Manzanek, D.; Reeves, D.; Hopkins, J.; Wade, D.; Tantardini M.; Shen, H. (April 13, 2015). "Enhanced Gravity Tractor Technique for Planetary Defense". IAA-PDC.
  23. ^ NASA RFI: Spacecraft Bus Concepts to Support the ARM and In-Space Robotic Servicing- Section "Separable Spacecraft Architecture ARRM Concept".
  24. ^ Will April, 2020 be the last month on this earth? NASA told the whole truth. Retrieved March 20, 2020.
  25. ^ a b Gateway Update. Archived 3 August 2020 at the Wayback Machine NASA Advisory Council. Human Exploration and Operations Committee. Jason Crusan. 7 December 2018. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  26. ^ a b NASA updates Lunar Gateway plans Archived 6 August 2019 at the Wayback Machine. Philip Sloss, NASASpaceflight.com. 11 September 2018.
  27. ^ Jimi Russell. "NASA Selects Studies for Gateway Power and Propulsion Element". nasa.gov. NASA. Archived from the original on 12 January 2018. Retrieved 2 November 2017. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  28. ^ Robyn Gatens, Jason Crusan. "Cislunar Habitation and Environmental Control and Life Support System" (PDF). www.nasa.gov. NASA. Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 March 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2017. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  29. ^ Erin Mahoney. "NextSTEP Partners Develop Ground Prototypes to Expand our Knowledge of Deep Space Habitats". nasa.gov. NASA. Archived from the original on 10 April 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2017. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  30. ^ Overview of the Development and Mission Application of the Advanced Electric Propulsion System (AEPS) Archived 2 August 2020 at the Wayback Machine (PDF) Daniel A. Herman, Todd A. Tofil, Walter Santiago, Hani Kamhawi, James E. Polk, John S. Snyder, Richard R. Hofer, Frank Q. Picha, Jerry Jackson and May Allen. NASA; NASA/TM—2018-219761; 35th International Electric Propulsion Conference. Atlanta, Georgia, 8-12 October 2017. Accessed 27 July 2018 Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  31. ^ "NASA Awards Artemis Contract for Lunar Gateway Power, Propulsion" (Press release). NASA. 23 May 2019. Archived from the original on 20 September 2019. Retrieved 11 December 2019. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  32. ^ Foust, Jeff (May 23, 2019). "NASA selects Maxar to build first Gateway element". SpaceNews. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
  33. ^ Status of Advanced Electric Propulsion Systems for Exploration Missions. Archived 13 June 2019 at the Wayback Machine R. Joseph Cassady, Sam Wiley, Jerry Jackson. Aerojet Rocketdyne. October 2018
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