Visual Modeling Tool for Kill Vehicle Propulsion System Evaluation

The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) has a compelling interest in interceptor kill vehicles (KVs) with lighter, smaller, more powerful, and more efficient propulsion systems and components to enhance the cost effectiveness of missile defense systems. Withvarious propulsion system concepts being generated and proposed for KV divert and attitude control systems (DACS), there is a need for an accurate, graphical DACS Modeling Tool to expedite the evaluation of KV propulsion systems. An extensive search wasperformed surrounding the Phase I effort, yielding no other DACS tools available to meet this need. The initial development of an innovative, graphical-user-interface (GUI) model was undertaken during the Phase I to assist MDA in evaluating and validatingsolid DACS systems. SRS is now prepared to incrementally develop the Phase I DACS Modeling Tool into a fully capable, user-friendly, KV propulsion modeling tool, to ultimately enable lighter, faster, more reliable and less expensive missile defense killvehicles and interceptors. The modeling options will be expanded to include non-traditional solid DACS systems, liquid DACS systems, gel DACS systems, and cold-gas thrusters. The DACS Modeling Tool will also be integrated with our existing interceptordesign code to optimally size the booster propulsion stages, resulting in a complete interceptor modeling and sizing tool.