Innovative Ejector Launch System

The Missile Defense Agency is interested in the development of cold-launch technologies to enable the launch of a 10,000-pound missile to 100+ ft altitude without using the first stage rocket. The ability to cold launch this class of missile provides multiple benefits, to both the host platform/ship and missile performance. During the Phase I effort, the Corvid team successfully designed a concept canister that uses an aft pusher plate system to accelerate a 10,000-pound missile using high-pressure gas as the energy source for acceleration. High-fidelity modeling and simulation of the egress event with Corvid’s design demonstrated that the missile was able to exit the tube unimpeded at the design muzzle velocity, no damage was incurred by any of the canister structural components, the missile locking clamps released as designed, and the pusher plate was completely arrested inside the canister at the conclusion of the acceleration stroke. In Phase II, Corvid proposes to mature its design through rigorous test and evaluation, and additional system-level definition, with the end result being a large-scale hardware prototype. At the end of the Phase II effort, Corvid will conduct capstone testing of a missile surrogate in Promontory, Utah with partner Northrop Grumman. Approved for Public Release | 20-MDA-10643 (3 Dec 20)