A nose cone and a suborbital launch vehicle with first-stage integral recovery

Abstract

The present invention discloses a suborbital carrier rocket with an end cover and a first stage that can be recovered as a whole, comprising a first stage body and a rocket cover, the rocket cover comprising a barrel cover, an end cover shell segment and an end cover, the barrel cover is arranged at the front end of the first stage body, the barrel cover is used to place a suborbital payload, an adaptive load support is arranged at the bottom of the barrel cover, a slide rail assembly is arranged on the inner wall of the barrel cover, an electrically controlled locking device for locking the suborbital payload is arranged on the adaptive load support, the slide rail assembly is connected to the suborbital payload in a sliding manner; the end cover shell segment is arranged at the front end of the barrel cover, the end cover is arranged at the front end of the end cover shell segment, the end cover is composed of multiple petals hinged to the end cover shell segment, the multiple petals are hemispherical when closed, and the opening and closing of the end cover is controlled by an end cover actuator; a reverse thrust rocket is also arranged at the front end of the inner wall of the end cover shell segment; the present invention discloses a suborbital carrier rocket with an end cover and a first stage that can be recovered as a whole 100%, can be reused after inspection and evaluation, and has higher reuse value.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of space rockets, and particularly to a suborbital launch vehicle with an integrated recovery of the nose cap and the first stage. Background Art

[0002] With the continuous development of the domestic and international space fields, how to reduce the cost of space launches is one of the main challenges faced by the entire space industry. The development of commercial space has put forward higher requirements for low-cost launches and low-cost rockets! Especially for some low-altitude and high-speed flight test launches, realizing the recovery and reuse of launch vehicles and their payloads is an important measure to reduce costs. Since the mid-20th century, major space powers around the world have continuously carried out research and tests on reusable space transportation systems. From the perspective of configuration technical characteristics, reusable launch vehicles can be divided into two categories: horizontally recovered reusable launch vehicles and vertically recovered reusable launch rockets. The premise of carrying out research on the sub-stage recovery technology of launch rockets is to carry out research on the sub-stage recovery technology of launch rockets. For example, SpaceX's "Falcon-9R" rocket uses a vertical return method; the "Baikal" booster proposed by Russia also uses a winged fly-back method. The space shuttle uses a horizontal recovery method of horizontal taxiing recovery. The fairing of SpaceX's "Falcon" rocket is recovered in two petals by parachutes at sea, which is a new application after the parachute recovery of satellites and spacecraft.

[0003] Disadvantages of the prior art:

[0004] At present, SpaceX's "Falcon-9R" and Blue Origin's rockets have achieved the recovery of the first-stage rocket; after the fairing of the "Falcon-9R" is jettisoned, it is recovered in two petals respectively, mainly using parachute recovery at sea; the rockets above the second stage have not achieved recovery.

[0005] Domestic launch rockets have not achieved recovery, and the launch cost of rockets is higher than that of SpaceX's rockets.

[0006] In summary, providing a suborbital launch vehicle with an integrated recovery of the nose cap and the first stage is an urgent problem to be solved by those skilled in the art. Summary of the Invention

[0007] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a suborbital launch vehicle with an integrated recovery of the nose cap and the first stage to solve the problems existing in the above prior art, which can be 100% integrally recovered, reused after inspection and evaluation, and has a higher reuse value.

[0008] To achieve the above purpose, the present invention provides the following solutions:

[0009] The present invention provides a suborbital carrier rocket with an end cover and a first stage that can be recovered as a whole, comprising a first stage body and a rocket cover, the rocket cover comprising a barrel cover, an end cover shell segment and an end cover, the barrel cover being arranged at the front end of the first stage body, the barrel cover being used to place a suborbital payload, the bottom of the barrel cover being provided with an adaptive load support, the inner wall of the barrel cover being provided with a slide rail assembly, the adaptive load support being provided with an electrically controlled locking device for locking the suborbital payload, the slide rail assembly being slidably connected to the suborbital payload; the end cover shell segment being arranged at the front end of the barrel cover, the end cover being arranged at the front end of the end cover shell segment, the end cover being composed of multiple petals hinged to the end cover shell segment, the multiple petal end cover being hemispherical when closed, the inner side of each petal end cover being connected to the end cover shell segment via an end cover actuator, and the opening and closing of the end cover being controlled by the end cover actuator; a reverse thrust rocket being further arranged at the front end of the inner wall of the end cover shell segment, the thrust direction of the reverse thrust rocket being opposite to the power direction of the first stage body.

[0010] Preferably, the first-stage rocket body includes a first-stage power, a conveying system, a pressurization system, a first-stage power cabin, an engine cover, a first-stage Y box, a first-stage R box and a recovery landing bracket.

[0011] Preferably, the suborbital payload includes a low-orbit two-stage rocket + satellite or a high-orbit two or three-stage rocket + satellite or aerospace test equipment or aerospace tourism cabin or a cargo transport cabin.

[0012] Preferably, the cylinder cover is made of aluminum alloy skin, carbon fiber composite material or fiberglass.

[0013] Preferably, the slide rail assembly is composed of a plurality of circumferentially distributed titanium alloy slide rails or aluminum alloy slide rails.

[0014] Preferably, the end shield consists of 2-8 petals.

[0015] Preferably, a reversible grille is provided on the end cover.

[0016] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has achieved the following beneficial technical effects:

[0017] 1. The suborbital carrier rocket provided by the present invention, with the end cover and the first stage being recovered as a whole, can be 100% recovered as a whole and can be reused after inspection and evaluation, with higher reuse value.

[0018] 2. The end cover shell segment assembly, barrel cover slide rail assembly and first-stage rocket body are recovered as a whole, avoiding the large amount of manpower and material resources required for tracking, monitoring and recovery ship recovery of fairing petals at sea or parachute recovery.

[0019] 3. It can effectively reduce launch costs. It is expected that the launch cost of the first-stage suborbital payload will be reduced by 70%, the launch cost of the second-stage low-orbit payload will be reduced by 50%, and the launch cost of the third-stage high-orbit payload will be reduced by 30%.

[0020] 4. The reusable suborbital launch vehicle can greatly shorten the development and launch cycles of low-orbit and high-orbit rockets. By using the suborbital launch vehicle as the first stage and developing the second or third stage rockets, the development cycle will be shortened by more than 50%.

[0021] 5. The launch of the suborbital launch vehicle can provide a test environment for ground launch, flight, and suborbital flight, and can provide environmental tests and test services in real conditions for the development of aerospace products within 15t. The reduction of the launch cost of the launch vehicle lays a foundation for intercontinental transportation, space tourism, space experiments, and the development of the space industry and space economy. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required in the embodiments. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those of ordinary skill in the art, without creative efforts, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings.

[0023] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the suborbital launch vehicle with the nose cap and the first stage recovered integrally in the present invention;

[0024] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the internal structure of the barrel cover of the suborbital launch vehicle with the nose cap and the first stage recovered integrally in the present invention;

[0025] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of the nose cap closed state during the ground launch and the first stage flight of the rocket in the present invention;

[0026] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of the nose cap opened state during the separation of the suborbital payload in the present invention;

[0027] Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of the state where the suborbital payload is separated from the first stage rocket body in the present invention;

[0028] Figure 6 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of the nose cap closed and returning state after the suborbital payload is separated from the first stage rocket body in the present invention;

[0029] Figure 7 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of the state where the opening degree of the nose cap can be adjusted according to the stability requirement during the process of the rocket returning to the ground in the present invention;

[0030] Figure 8 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of the state where the suborbital rocket and its rocket shroud return and land integrally in the present invention;

[0031] In the figure: 1 - first-stage rocket body, 2 - rocket sleeve, 3 - cylinder sleeve, 4 - end cover shell section, 5 - end cover, 6 - adapter payload support, 7 - slide rail assembly, 8 - end cover actuator, 9 - retrorocket, 10 - suborbital payload, 11 - reversible grid fin. Detailed implementation mode

[0032] Next, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, rather than all the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0033] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a suborbital launch vehicle with integral recovery of the end cover and the first stage to solve the problems existing in the prior art.

[0034] In order to make the above objects, features and advantages of the present invention more obvious and understandable, the present invention will be further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific implementation modes.

[0035] The suborbital launch vehicle with integral recovery of the end cover and the first stage in this embodiment is as Figure 1-2 shown, including a first-stage rocket body 1 and a rocket sleeve 2. The rocket sleeve 2 includes a cylinder sleeve 3, an end cover shell section 4 and an end cover 5. The cylinder sleeve 3 is arranged at the front end of the first-stage rocket body 1. The cylinder sleeve 3 is used to place the suborbital payload 10. An adapter payload support 6 is arranged at the bottom of the cylinder sleeve 3. A slide rail assembly 7 is arranged on the inner wall of the cylinder sleeve 3. An electric control locking device for locking the suborbital payload 10 is arranged on the adapter payload support 6. The slide rail assembly 7 is slidably connected with the suborbital payload 10 in a matching manner; the end cover shell section 4 is arranged at the front end of the cylinder sleeve 3, and the end cover 5 is arranged at the front end of the end cover shell section 4. The end cover 5 is composed of multiple petals hinged to the end cover shell section 4. After the multiple petals of the end cover 5 are closed, it is hemispherical. The inner sides of the petals of the end cover 5 are connected to the end cover shell section 4 through an end cover actuator 8. The opening and closing of the end cover 5 are controlled by the end cover actuator 8; a retrorocket 8 is also arranged at the front end of the inner wall of the end cover shell section 4. The thrust direction of the retrorocket 8 is opposite to the power direction of the first-stage rocket body 1.

[0036] In this embodiment, the electric control locking device can specifically be a hook device driven by an electromagnet, etc. The suborbital payload 10 is locked and fixed or unlocked, opened and released through the electric control locking device; the adapter payload support 6 is designed in a serialized and modular manner according to the load type for quick selection and matching of various loads, which not only reduces costs but also shortens the development cycle.

[0037] In this specific embodiment, the first-stage rocket body 1 includes a first-stage power system, a delivery system, a pressurization system, a first-stage power cabin, an engine hood, a first-stage Y-box, a first-stage R-box, and a recovery and landing support (the connection relationships and working principles of each part are conventional technical means of rockets and will not be elaborated). The diameter of the first-stage rocket body 1 is 2.3 m, and the diameter envelope of the payload is not greater than 2.3 m; the diameter of the barrel cover 3 and the end cover shell section 4 is 2.6 m; First-stage power: a first-stage 5×60t liquid oxygen kerosene engine, with the middle engine capable of two-way swing and 50% thrust adjustment, and the four outer engines capable of single-way swing to control the flight attitude.

[0038] In this specific embodiment, the suborbital payload 10 mainly includes a low-orbit second-stage rocket + satellite, or a high-orbit second- and third-stage rocket + satellite, or a space test equipment, or a space tourism cabin, etc., or a cargo transport cabin.

[0039] In this specific embodiment, the barrel cover 3 is made of aluminum alloy skin, carbon fiber composite material, or fiberglass. The slide rail assembly 7 is composed of multiple titanium alloy slide rails or aluminum alloy slide rails distributed circumferentially. The surface of the slide rail is solid lubricated to assist in limiting the position and lubricating during the installation and separation of the payload, and to protect the payload from external force damage.

[0040] In this specific embodiment, the end cover 5 is composed of 2 - 8 petals, and each petal of the end cover 5 is actuated to open or close by the end cover actuator 8; the end cover actuator 8 is an electric, hydraulic actuating mechanism, or a servo motor, and gradually adjusts the opening of the fairing according to the required opening.

[0041] In this specific embodiment, a flip-up grid fin 11 is designed and installed on the end cover 5. The flip-up grid fin 11 is attached to the outside of the end cover 5 and can be connected by welding. When the rocket recovers and lands, the end cover 5 opens, and the end cover 5 and its grid fins play a role in aerodynamic rectification and stabilization. During the process of the suborbital launch vehicle returning to the ground, the end cover 5 can adjust the opening degree according to the stability needs, gradually open or close the fairing, replace the role of the grid fins during the return process of traditional rockets, and stabilize the rocket attitude.

[0042] In this embodiment, the flight program and principle of the end cover and the first-stage integrally recovered suborbital launch vehicle are as follows:

[0043] 1) All components of the rocket complete installation and debugging and complete the pre-launch system and overall test preparations; the launch preparation stage is the same as that of traditional rockets, and the entire rocket is pushed into the air by the engine of the first-stage rocket body 1; for the state, refer to Figure 3 .

[0044] 2) After the rocket passes through the atmosphere and reaches the specified separation altitude, the end cover 5 is opened outward under the action of the end cover actuator 8, as shown in Figure 4 ; when the end cover 5 opens, the engine of the first-stage rocket body 1 shuts down.

[0045] 3) The engine of the retrorocket 9 starts, and the suborbital payload 10 separates from the first-stage rocket body 1. As shown in Figure 5 , the suborbital payload 10 continues to fly and performs subsequent tasks.

[0046] 4) After the separation of the suborbital payload 10, the end cover 5 closes. As shown in Figure 6 , under the action of the earth's gravity or the first-stage rocket engine, the suborbital launch vehicle slowly returns to the atmosphere and flies towards the ground. At a predetermined altitude before landing, relying on the first-stage intermediate engine to adjust the thrust and the combined action of the thrust of each engine to continuously adjust the attitude of the rocket and slowly descend. Before the rocket lands, the recovery landing bracket is opened, and finally it lands at the designated recovery location, as shown in Figure 8 .

[0047] 5) The end cover 5 is designed for rectification and stabilization, replacing the function of the grid fins during the return process of the traditional rocket to stabilize the attitude of the rocket. During the process of the suborbital launch vehicle returning to the ground, the end cover 5 can adjust the opening degree according to the stability needs, gradually opening or closing the cover, as shown in Figure 7 .

[0048] 6) After the first-stage suborbital launch vehicle is recovered, it is returned to the factory for maintenance. After passing the inspection, it can be used continuously for new suborbital launch missions.

[0049] The present invention uses specific examples to elaborate on the principle and implementation manner of the present invention. The description of the above embodiments is only used to help understand the method and its core idea of the present invention; at the same time, for those of ordinary skill in the art, according to the idea of the present invention, there will be changes in the specific implementation manner and application scope. In summary, the content of this specification should not be construed as a limitation to the present invention.

Claims

1. A suborbital launch vehicle with an integrally recoverable end shield and first stage, characterized by: It includes a first-stage rocket body and a rocket shroud. The rocket shroud includes a cylindrical shroud, an end shroud shell section and an end shroud. The cylindrical shroud is arranged at the front end of the first-stage rocket body. The cylindrical shroud is used to place a suborbital payload. An adaptable payload support is arranged at the bottom of the cylindrical shroud. A slide rail assembly is arranged on the inner wall of the cylindrical shroud. An electric control locking device for locking the suborbital payload is arranged on the adaptable payload support. The slide rail assembly is slidably connected with the suborbital payload in a matching manner. The end shroud shell section is arranged at the front end of the cylindrical shroud. The end shroud is arranged at the front end of the end shroud shell section. The end shroud is composed of multiple petals hinged to the end shroud shell section. After the multiple-petal end shroud is closed, it is hemispherical. The inner sides of the petals of the end shroud are connected to the end shroud shell section through end shroud actuators. The opening and closing of the end shroud are controlled by the end shroud actuators. A retrorocket is also arranged at the front end of the inner wall of the end shroud shell section. The thrust direction of the retrorocket is opposite to the power direction of the first-stage rocket body.

2. The end cover and the suborbital launch vehicle with first-stage integral recovery according to claim 1, wherein: The first-stage rocket body includes a first-stage power unit, a delivery system, a pressurization system, a first-stage power cabin, an engine cover, a first-stage Y tank, a first-stage R tank and a recovery and landing support.

3. The end cover and the suborbital launch vehicle with first-stage integral recovery according to claim 1, wherein: The suborbital payload includes a low-orbit second-stage rocket + satellite or a high-orbit second- and third-stage rocket + satellite or a space test equipment or a space tourism capsule or a cargo transport capsule, etc.

4. The end cap and the suborbital launch vehicle with first-stage integral recovery according to claim 1, characterized in that: The cylindrical shroud is made of aluminum alloy skin or carbon fiber composite material or fiberglass.

5. The end cap and the suborbital launch vehicle with first-stage integral recovery according to claim 1, wherein: The slide rail assembly is composed of multiple titanium alloy slide rails or aluminum alloy slide rails distributed circumferentially.

6. The end cover and the suborbital launch vehicle with first-stage integral recovery according to claim 1, wherein: The end shroud is composed of 2-8 petals.

7. The end cap and the suborbital launch vehicle with first-stage integral recovery according to claim 1, wherein: A flip-up grille is arranged on the end shroud.

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