Small Shuttle-Compatible Propulsion Module

"NASA and the Air Force have established a need for smaller payloads launched on the Shuttle Hitchhiker Experiment Launch System (SHELS) to achieve longer missions and/or more useful orbits by use of a propulsion module (PM). For Phase I, SpaceDev willimprove on and demonstrate the practicality of the Maneuvering and Transfer Vehicle (MTV) when deployed from SHELS. The MTV is a scalable, affordable and modular design that utilizes safe, storable propellants (nitrous oxide and Plexiglas). The primarydifficulty in implementing a PM for SHELS is the stringent safety requirements of the Space Transportation System (STS). SpaceDev proposes to perform a thorough investigation of the SHELS/STS safety requirements combined with a careful design optimizationprocess that emphasizes safety, cost, and performance. SpaceDev will show that an Advanced MTV can serve as a PM and host spacecraft bus that will maximize the available volume and mass for potential SHELS experiments/instruments. In addition, SpaceDevwill design a catalyst bed for multiple MTV restarts and select new fuel core compositions to increase performance and potentially reduce vehicle mass and volume. SpaceDev intends to apply these findings to a Small Launch Vehicle (SLV) conceptual designin the event SHELS launches are not readily available. Many payloads get dropped off in an undesirable orbit due to current launch vehicle cost constraints. A recent California-funded Sp