(failure) Hypersonic Technology Vehicle atop Minotaur on Apr 22, 2010

[SiberianTiger]

While everyone was looking at X-37B launching, the USAF have performed another mission of great significance without gathering a lot of attention.

4/22/2010 - VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Team Vandenberg launched the first Minotaur IV Lite launch vehicle at 4 p.m. April 22 from Space Launch Complex-8 here.

The rocket launched the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2.

The 30th Space Wing commander, Col. David Buck, was the launch decision authority.

The Minotaur family of launch vehicles are provided via the Orbital/Suborbital Program 2 and managed by the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, Space Development and Test Wing's Launch Test Squadron located at Kirtland AFB, N.M.

http://www.orbital.com/NewsInfo/release.asp?prid=727

About the HTV-2 Mission

DARPA’s HTV-2 program objective is to create new technological options that enable capabilities that urgently address threats to U.S. national security. The program is developing and testing an unmanned, rocket-launched, maneuverable, hypersonic air vehicle that glides through the Earth’s atmosphere, at speeds of Mach 20 and above. The key technical challenges of the HTV-2 program are the design of an innovative high lift-to-drag aerodynamic shape, advanced lightweight but tough thermal protection structures, materials and fabrication technologies, autonomous hypersonic navigation guidance and control systems, and an autonomous flight safety system.

About Minotaur IV

The Minotaur IV space launch vehicle leverages the flight-proven heritage of Orbital’s Minotaur I, Pegasus and Taurus space launch vehicles to provide a reliable, capable and cost-effective space launcher. Minotaur IV utilizes three government-furnished solid rocket motors from decommissioned Peacekeeper ICBMs and a commercial solid rocket upper stage. Minotaur IV builds on a long heritage of launch systems with over 50 flights of each core stage and is capable of launching payloads up to 3,800 lbs. (1,730 kgs.) to low Earth orbit.

Pictures from the HLV presentation are awesome:

A possible civilian utilization of the technology:

Honestly speaking, Gentlemen, it's done very impressively!

 

[Andy44]

Wow, almost feels like 1962 again around here! "HyperSoar"! And with a pointy nose, too. Must be a nifty material used there.

 

[SiberianTiger]

It seems like I was too quick to come up with congratulations:

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1004/23minotaur/index.html

A new Minotaur launch vehicle derived from retired missile parts successfully blasted off from the California coast Thursday, but officials lost contact with a hypersonic glider testbed for a U.S. military quick-response global strike system.
The craft, called the Hypersonic Test Vehicle 2a, apparently did not complete all of its planned maneuvers to demonstrate new hypersonic flight systems.

"Preliminary review of technical data indicates the Minotaur Lite launch system successfully delivered the Falcon HTV 2 glide vehicle to the desired separation conditions," the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency said in a statement. "The launch vehicle executed first of its kind energy management maneuvers, clamshell payload fairing release and HTV 2 deployment."

The HTV 2a payload launched Thursday separated from the Minotaur high in the upper atmosphere at a velocity more than 20 times the speed of sound.

But tracking assets lost contact with the triangle-shaped craft 9 minutes after liftoff. "An engineering team is reviewing available data to understand this event," DARPA said in a written statement.

After its release from the Minotaur third stage, the craft was designed to try out its aerodynamic control system and conduct sweeping turns to bleed off excess energy and demonstrate its cross-range capabilities.

The DARPA press release did not specify whether any of the test maneuvers were completed before controllers lost communications with the craft.
The HTV was built by Lockheed Martin Corp.

A second test vehicle was scheduled for launch in early 2011 on a similar flight, according to a DARPA spokesperson.

But that schedule was announced before Thursday's mishap.

Or at least so they say. Did anybody see the body? No...

 

[RisingFury]

Damn, that sucks.

A grim reminder that rocket engines aren't the only ones to fail...

 

[Andy44]

Them's the breaks in spaceflight testing. In the early days of lifting body and reentry vehicle testing there were lots of failures or half-successes. But if you keep the program small enough you can work through the failures and get good test data.

 

[dumbo2007]

the craft was designed to try out its aerodynamic control system and conduct sweeping turns to bleed off excess energy

Perhaps the glide vehicle did deploy, but sweeping turns at 20 times the speed of sound would probably damage any control surfaces quickly - but then the Space Shuttle also does such maneuvers at high speed I think.

 

[DaveS]

Perhaps the glide vehicle did deploy, but sweeping turns at 20 times the speed of sound would probably damage any control surfaces quickly - but then the Space Shuttle also does such maneuvers at high speed I think.

Oh yes, the rolls begins around Mach 23 I think. No issues at all.

 

[N_Molson]

I think that a small and lightweight vehicle is a lot more fragile, more sensitive than an heavy one like the Shuttle. So while launching the X37B, they are working on the reentry phase ;p

 

[T.Neo]

I don't see why it should be a more sensitive vehicle than a heavy vehicle such as the shuttle.

I get the impression, at least, that vehicles like this one are quite sturdy in construction (more so than STS).

And what is the material on the nose? Tungsten, perhaps?

 

[SiberianTiger]

If they fix the problems, this thing may become a strategic balance shifter. Essentially, it's a Saenger's bomber revived. Launch it with enough excessive energy down some standard test firing azimuth, wait till separation from the booster, then make it turn to a required heading and then do skips covering a half of the globe, while remaining quite at low altitude and still at a speed and altitude too high for most existing AA defences to intercept. This simply makes Tomahawks and their launching ships obsolete: now a surprise high accuracy strike can be done right off the USA mainland.

 

[RisingFury]

Small things aren't guaranteed to be more fragile, but from my experience in (subsonic) RC aircraft, large models seem to fly better.

 

[SiberianTiger]

And what is the material on the nose? Tungsten, perhaps?

A Niobium based alloy, probably. Or maybe some tricky nanotech product.

 

[Keatah]

a heavy vehicle will have a whole different set of harmonics and oscillation characteristics..

 

[Andy44]

If they fix the problems, this thing may become a strategic balance shifter. Essentially, it's a Saenger's bomber revived. Launch it with enough excessive energy down some standard test firing azimuth, wait till separation from the booster, then make it turn to a required heading and then do skips covering a half of the globe, while remaining quite at low altitude and still at a speed and altitude too high for most existing AA defences to intercept. This simply makes Tomahawks and their launching ships obsolete: now a surprise high accuracy strike can be done right off the USA mainland.

Possibly, but if the targeted entity has assets that can detect an ICBM launch then there's no way to be sneaky with it. The vehicle itself will also have a high thermal signature as it blasts through the upper atmosphere. Useful for shooting at people in caves, maybe, but the Tomahawk is cheaper for that.

Sometimes I wonder what our air force thinks it is gaining with this stuff other than just basic research.

 

[Eagle]

Sometimes I wonder what our air force thinks it is gaining with this stuff other than just basic research.

Hypersonicly inserted UAVs. Launch one up, go ballistic over 1/3 of the globe, reenter and either take pictures, blow things up, or dogfight.

 

[eveningsky339]

The idea of using this technology for civilian purposes is interesting... Approximately how long would it take to go from, say, New York to Tokyo on one of these bad boys? A few hours?

 

[Dambuster]

Hypersonicly inserted UAVs. Launch one up, go ballistic over 1/3 of the globe, reenter and either take pictures, blow things up, or dogfight.

Not a chance on the dogfighting. Any air to air combat would almost certainly be done with long range missiles, and I'm fairly sure the UAV would break up if it tried to manoeuver with a slower plane at anything approaching hypersonic speeds.

 

[Andy44]

Hypersonicly inserted UAVs. Launch one up, go ballistic over 1/3 of the globe, reenter and either take pictures, blow things up, or dogfight.

And provoke a catastrophic response.

 

[Eagle]

Not a chance on the dogfighting. Any air to air combat would almost certainly be done with long range missiles,

This is the thinking that the gunless F-4 Phantom was developed under.

Also, a UAV is a long range missile that you can mount other weapons on instead of just crashing it into things.

 

[Dambuster]

This is the thinking that the gunless F-4 Phantom was developed under.

Also, a UAV is a long range missile that you can mount other weapons on instead of just crashing it into things.

True, but I think I mis-phrased what I was trying to say:

I don't think the hypersonic UAV would be acceptably manoeuverable at low (i.e. dogfighting) speeds (probably <Mach 1) for it to be an effective dogfighter, and if it tried to turn with a conventional fighter jet at higher speeds (especially hypersonic), it would probably break up from the stress.