Innovative Controllable Solid Propulsion Technology

Solid propellant controllable systems are now being successfully applied to the SM3 DACS and are rapidly becoming a cornerstone in enabling missile defense systems to target and destroy threats. Despite the low mass fraction, low thruster performance, limited operating time, and the high cost of not gas valves, the highly desirable features of storability, safety and insensitivity make solid propulsion desirable. As a result, it is the goal of industry to discover new technologies to improve controllable solid systems’ performance and cost while maintaining the storability, safety and insensitivity advantages. To address this need Valley Tech Systems has conceptualized a controllable solid system that increases system performance and mass fractions while replacing commonly used complex nozzles by simpler and lighter valves. The new system is enabled with the use of Electric Solid Propellant (ESP) combined with Valley Tech Systems’ Propellant Control Algorithm (P-Con). This system uses an electric controller to directly ignite extinguish and proportionally vary the propellant burn rate and thrust. The result is a new controllable propulsion architecture that greatly improves high altitude and exo-atmospheric system performance while reducing weight and cost. Additionally, long duration operation capability is enabled due to on-demand ignition and extinguishment of the ESP. During the Phase II SBIR numerous tests are planned to demonstrate the critical control aspects of ignition, extinguishment and throttling of an ESP propellant grain using the P-Con control system.