Valveless Control Of A Solid-propellant Divert Subsystem

INTEGRATED SYSTEMS INC. (ISI) AND INDUSTRIAL SOLID PROPULSION (ISP) HAVE JOINTLY DEFINED A CONCEPT FOR VALVELESS SOLID-PROPELLANT DIVERT CONTROL OF KINETIC ENERGY PROJECTILES. ISP AND CONSULTANT DR. BOB GIESLER EVOLVED THE MULTIPULSE PROPELLANT GRAIN AND DUAL-ENDED IGNITER DESIGN OUT OF ISP'S MODEL ROCKET TECHNOLOGY. ISI PROVIDED THE GUIDANCE AND CONTROL KNOWLEDGE NECESSARY TO DETERMINE THE CONTROL POLICY, MINIMUM IMPULSE BIT SIZING, AND OVERALL VALVELESS SOLID DIVERT (VSD) MODULE SIZING. ISI PROPOSES TO DEVELOP AND TEST A MULTIPLE IGNITION CONTROLLER FOR THE VSD CONCEPT. IN ANOTHER PHASE I PROPOSAL SUBMITTED UNDER SEPARATE COVER, ISP PROPOSES TO DEVELOP AND GROUND-TEST THE VSD MODULE PROPULSION HARDWARE. THE VALVELESS SOLID DIVERT (VSD) CONCEPT INTEGRATES AN APPROPRIATE NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALLY-IGNITABLE SOLID-PROPELLANT GRAINS, SIZES TO PROVIDE THE MINIMUM IMPULSE BITS NEEDED TO ASSURE TARGET HIT-TO-KILL, INTO TWO DOUBLE-ENDED CHAMBERS (OR "MODULES") TO PROVIDE PLUS AND MINUS DIVERT CONTROL ALONG THE DESIRED TWO DIVERT AXES. APPLICATION OF DIVERT THRUST IS CONTROLLED BY ELECTRONICALLY-ACTIVATED IGNITERS INSTEAD OF EXPENSIVE AND OFTEN UNRELIABLE HOT-GAS VALVES.