Scorpius® Suborbital Rocket (SR-M) Expendable Vehicle Technology

Microcosm, Inc. is proposing to complete the buildup of the suborbital rocket (SR-M) vehicle and launch this vehicle within twelve months of the authority to proceed. The suborbital rocket SR-M can carry up to a 2,400 pound payload. The SR-M offers considerable flexibility and performance while achieving low mission cost. Variations of the vehicle can be created to form the core of various missions from the classic sounding rocket for science projects to the target programs to represent various missile threats. The SR-M will use the Scorpius® 20 klbf (vac) thrust engine, the 42-inch diameter all-composite propellant tanks, High Performance Pressurization System (HPPS), and a modified avionics suite of the twin-engine suborbital rocket of the Scorpius® SR-XM-1 previously launched. This effort will focus on MDA’s and other agency requirements for a low cost suborbital liquid vehicle to be used as a medium class sounding rocket or target vehicle. The SR-M represents an extension and scaled up version of the SR-XM-1 Suborbital Vehicle that Microcosm launched at White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) WC-50 on March, 2001. The SR-M will use a payload fairing and 20 klbf engine injector supplied as government furnished equipment (GFE). The SR-M with the 20 klbf engine will also serve to fly and qualify the basic ablative engine technologies leading to the larger preliminary concept 80 klbf engine developed in Phase 1 of an SBIR with AFRL-PR/West.