U.P.B. Sci. Bull., Series D, Vol. 70, No.

3, 2008 ISSN 1454-2358

NERVA VEHICLES, ROMANIA’S ACCESS TO SPACE

Radu RUGESCU1

Colectivul de tehnologie spaţială a UPB prezintă paşii imediat abordabili

pentru realizarea, în proprietate, a sistemului de lansare cu acces orbital NERVA.
Vehiculul NERVA este un mijloc usor disponibil, cu costuri reduse, de demonstrare
a posibilităţii de realizare a zborurilor suborbitale cu o viteză finală la jumătate din
viteza orbitală, la altitudine joasă, prin conversia sistemelor sol-aer SA-2 retrase,
disponibilizate în România. Se intentioneaza introducerea unui nou si superior
sistem de control al atitudinii pe trei axe pentru satelitul minimal PUBSAT.

The team for space technology of UPB presents the immediately

approachable steps towards the achievement of the proprietary NERVA orbital
access launching system. The NERVA vehicle is a readily available and low cost
means to demonstrate the feasibility to achieve secured sub-orbital flights with a
final velocity of one half the orbital velocity at low altitude by the conversion of
retired soil-air SA-2 Guideline systems, obsolete in Romania. A new, superior three-
axes attitude control system for the minimal satellite PUBSAT is envisaged.

Key words: orbital vehicles, rocket launchers, space transportation

1. Introduction

With the growing interest in low cost vehicles for responsive space access,
the number of small to medium sized orbital transporters is increasing, under the
name of small satellite launchers. Some private companies with the capability of
developing cheep space transporters are already raising, only to mention the
international [1] “Sea Launch” and US “SpaceX” [2], “Orbital” [3], “t/Space” [4]
or the Russian “Air Launch Corporation” [5]. They entered this new and
promising market. Claimed for long as the optimal solution for launch into Earth
orbit, the return to expandable launchers was bolstered by the final failure of low
cost, secure Space Shuttle systems in US and Russia. Other similar reusable
orbital systems from Japan, China and Europe had also been cancelled due to
uncertainties exhibited during the American and own national developments with
reusable transporters. One of the renewed solutions, the airplane satellite launch,
first sought in early ‘50s through the Pilot project, ended in failure [6]. It only
became operational after four decades with Pegasus three-staged launcher, a
private system from Orbital [7], with 38 successful missions since 1993.

1
Professor, Chair of Aerospace Sciences “Elie Carafoli”, University “Politehnica” of Bucharest,
Romania, EU
32 Radu Rugescu

Small vehicles were considered in Spain by “INTA”, within the

AQUARIUS air-launch project. Very light structure solid rocket engines of
Spanish technology are desired and the Eurofighter as an air launch platform [9].
The involvement of University “Politehnica” of Bucharest (UPB) in FP7
European Space priority projects motivates the development of the NERVA
launcher [10] for PUBSAT. It consists of a readily available, low cost
demonstrator for achieving half of the local orbital velocity at 100 miles altitude
for the three-axes controlled (3AC) satellite. The improved rocket transporter
stands within the Romanian technology frames, addressed through a high level
industrial consortium (Electromecanica, Aerofina, Powders Factory in Fagaras
and ELAROM), with UPB as project coordinator. The foreground of the NERVA
vehicle is the soil-air SA-2 Guideline weapon, now obsolete in Romania,
subjected to a precisely controlled re-conversion. SA-2 is a derivation in fact of
the famous Rheintochter missile, successfully developed at Peenemunde in early
1945 by the rocket team of Wernher von Braun. The new NERVA stands as a
peaceful renovation of that brilliant work, transforming soil-to-air missile into a
high performance orbital vehicle, perhaps the first orbital project developed from
such a conventional rocket. Another first is the low-mass 3AC of PUBSAT. The
expertise of the ADDA SME (Association Dedicated to Development in
Astronautics) and the existing capabilities of industrial partners give confidence in
this project [17]. An upper stage with the performance of 5000 meters per second
ideal velocity is at the limit of the current Romanian rocket technology. All align
into building a cheap, ground launch vehicle by a minimal modification of the
SA-2 rocket system. This requires however a drastic improvement of the
structural efficiency of the SA-2 Guideline system, to accommodate higher thrust
enhancement of the solid motor (SM) booster, thrust vectorization of the liquid
motor (LM) and lightweight sustainer structure for the second stage, with highly
extended propellant tanks and lightweight guidance. They are a continuation of
the NERVA study of the author, where relative effects of structure and specific
impulse enhancements were analyzed [10]. The considerations observed are:
▪ preserve fairly unchanged the basic first stage (booster) construction;
▪ accept a number of extra boosters to circumvent in a cluster the original one;
▪ preserve the second stage liquid engine construction fairly unchanged;
▪ accept a sensible extension in combustion time of the second stage liquid motor;
▪ allow for a sharp lengthening of propellant tanks of the second stage;
▪ remove all military equipment and replace it with extra tankage, engine gimbals
bearing and a much smaller navigation hardware;
▪ remove the fixed fins of the second stage;
▪ direct the action of the stirring actuators from the fins to the liquid motor.
The prediction of the available performance is performed by computer
simulations, proving the feasibility of the NERVA vehicle as an orbital system.
 NERVA vehicles, Romania’s access to space 33

2. The ascent trajectory and safety aspects

The simulated trajectory conveniently supports injection into a low orbit at

the altitude of 160 km through a final boost by a third stage, that adds a velocity
supplement Δv to the apogee remainder velocity of the carrier vehicle, up to the
local circular velocity. The Δv grows smaller with increasing carrier power,
meaning that a maximal horizontal apogee velocity is required for the improved
NERVA carrier. Additional SM-s in a cluster induces sensible velocity savings for
the third stage, as numerical simulations of the ascent flight show.
Trajectory simulations were performed based on a planar local inertial
model, into a geographic referential. This allows considering the gravitational
field of the Earth as spherical and quasi-spherical and the Earth under its diurnal
rotation. Computation had given good results as compared with known data for
existing vehicles. Gravity turn trajectories are always assumed, along the trans-
atmospheric flight to minimize the drag and along the exo-atmospheric ascent to
maximize the thrust output. These paths involve a non-vertical launch and are
described by four dependent variables, for example the velocity magnitude v, its
inclination above the starting horizontal θ, the instant distance to the Earth center
r and the central angle of view of the path φ (Fig. 1). Into a simplified scheme
with non-rotating Earth and constant gravitation, the motion always remains in a
yA

initial M v
horizontal
F θ
v0
R
μg local φ
A θ0 horizontal
xA
ascent
trajectory
φ

Fig. 1. Geometry of the trans-atmospheric rocket ascent

plane and only depends on three dependent variables [14]. The downrange
distance xA or the equivalent angle φ does not appear as a defining variable for the
constant g trajectories. It is only the inclusion of the spherical Earth that obeys to
introduce the fourth parameter xA.

33
34 Radu Rugescu

The four corresponding first degree ODE-s that govern the motion are
dv d ln  (t ) R(r − R E , vr ) sin( +  )
= −C − − KE ,
dt dt  (t ) r2
d cos( +  )
= − g (r ) ,
dt v (1)
dy A
= v sin  ,
dt
dx A
= v cos .
dt
These equations are written within the inertial frame {AxAyAzA}, which
behaves as bound to the launching site A, with local vertical as for axis yA and
local horizontal xA directed towards the azimuth direction of the launch. Due to
the specific geography of the launch site and launch direction, located on the
southern Romanian border on the Black Sea west bench, the launching azimuth is
considered to be equal to 90º (Eastern direction). The local Earth peripheral
velocity of rotation of 328 m/s at launch latitude is thus fully imparted to the
spacecraft at injection. In the above equations C stands for the vacuum specific
impulse of the rocket engine, μ for the variable, instant mass ratio of the vehicle
M0 M
 (t )  = 0 ,
M0 − M p M f

where Mp is the mass of consumed propellant, subtracted from the initial mass M0
to render the final mass of the vehicle after burn-out Mf, R is the retardation (the
sum of the aerodynamic drag D and the base thrust induced drag B on the nozzle
exit [13]), vr is the magnitude of vehicle velocity relative to the local atmosphere
and KE is the gravitational constant of the Earth.
The following restrictions are added to the previous equations regarding
the mass consumption law and geometrical connections between the variables,

 (t ) =  0 − b  t ,
xA
 = arg tan , (2)
y A + RE
r 2 = x A 2 + ( y A + RE ) 2 .

Constant mass flow rate b is considered. Results of numerical integration

with two different routine codes, created by UPB to assess the accuracy, for
different vehicle configurations, are given in Table 1 and Table 2.
 NERVA vehicles, Romania’s access to space 35

3. Basic configuration V.11

To mark a reference basis, the ascent motion was first simulated for the
basic SA2 configuration. This source vehicle is a two-staged rocket system,
involving a SM booster stage and a LM sustainer, turbo-pump stage. Its
deliverable ideal velocity in a free space of 2500 m/s was presented previously
[10]. Now the real flight characteristics are revealed, assuming a non-lift, gravity-
turn trajectory that follows an initial start from a short guiding rail of the mobile
ground launcher at an elevation angle close to the vertical (θ0≈86°), in order to
exit the atmosphere fast towards a maximal pick altitude of 131 km. The
launching pad ensures an exit velocity of 50 m/s from the rails, to secure the
aerodynamic stability of the initial flight. The high thrust enhancement provides a
fast increase in velocity during the first stage boost. It is noted that the standard
SA-2 vehicle is provided with a considerable take-of thrust-to-weight ration of 15,
meaning that the structure of the second stage is designed to face high extra loads
during the initial boost with ease. This allows considering additional boosters as
easily acceptable, up to a limit imposed by the admissible structure overloads, due
to even much higher accelerations during the boost phase. Configuration of basic
NERVA is given in Fig. 2 (a).
The start from the tethered launcher with 10 meters rails long lasts for
some 0.4 seconds of the total burning time of 3.6 seconds of the PRD-18 booster
SM. During the first stage phase the large four fixed fins, fastened to the SM (Fig
4), secure an acceptable aerodynamic stabilization of the vehicle, augmented by
the small, four rotating fins of the second stage. The gravity turn flight plan is
controlled by the auto-pilot (inertial-optical) included in the payload. The 3.6
seconds of high boost are consumed up to 920 meters altitude when the speed is
514 m/s, slightly supersonic (M 1.5) and the ignition of the second stage LM is
initiated, with subsequent disconnection of the first stage. The empty booster falls
within 1412 meters off the launch site, an acceptable clearance for the safety
requirements. This is consistent with military regulations of SA-2 launches.
The RADAR guidance during the experimental launches of the basic
NERVA configuration is replaced by total auto guidance through the navigation
platform, although the presence of all standard military equipment, excepting the
warhead, is preserved. This way the mass characteristics and centering are
preserved. Flight profile of basic, inertial guided NERVA, is given in Fig. 2 (b).
The basic NERVA is a useful test-bed for the novel 3AC avionics with
local vertical pointing, in advance of the improved NERVA propulsion and
independent of it. Attitude control during atmospheric and exo-atmospheric ascent
and during third stage burn can be suitably tested during over four minutes of exo-
atmospheric weightlessness, close to the eventual real climb to orbit. The exo-
atmospheric span is given in Fig. 2 (b). Recovery is also considered [14, 15].

35
36 Radu Rugescu

Within the first flights of the basic NERVA V.11 the second stage fins will
be used unchanged, to secure a convenient stability without thrust vectorization.

y, km 131.4 km apogee
135
(z)
120 3-axis controlled
satellite mockup

105 (x)

90 (y)

75 4.5 min of exo

atmospheric flight
60

45

30
35.9 km SECO

15 θ0=85.7° launch elevation

(a)
15 30 45 60 75 90 x, km

(b)

Fig. 2. Basic NERVA (a) and flight profile (b).

4. Performances of NERVA versions

Three two-stage improvements of the standard SA2 rocket were considered,

all involving identical, longer second stage, with extended propellant capacity
[10], and three or seven first stage SM-s respectively. Each SM delivers 360 kN of
see-level thrust [11] for a short 3.7 seconds burn. The versions are V.12 (one SM),
V.32 (three, parallel SM-s) and V.72 (seven SM-s). Computed data for a 160-km
orbit are given in Table 1. A similarly low orbit was used in the early Mercury
manned orbital program of 1960s.
 NERVA vehicles, Romania’s access to space 37

Table 1
Characteristics and potential performances of NERVA vehicles
First stage: V.11 V.12 V.32 V.72
Lift-of elevation, θ0= 85.7° 75.923° 62.39° 54.61°
Lift-of mass, total, M0 = 2400 kg 3410 kg 5430 kg 9470 kg
Structure mass, Ms1= 400 kg 400 kg 1200 kg 2800 kg
Propellant mass, Mp1= 610 kg 610 kg 1830 kg 4270 kg
Total mass, booster only, M01= 1010 kg 1010 kg 3030 kg 7070 kg
Payload mass (2nd stage), M02= 1390 kg 2400 kg 2400 kg 2400 kg
Empty mass, 1st stage, M11= 1790 kg 2800 kg 3600 kg 5200 kg
Mass ratio, booster alone, μ01= 2.525 2.525 2.525 2.525
Mass ratio, global 1st stage, μ1= 1.341 1.218 1.508 1.821
Time spent on launcher, t00= 0.378 s 0.605 s 0.313 s 0.232 s
Mass ratio spent on launcher, μ00= 1.031 1.030 1.030 1.030
Mass ratio on launcher exit, μ11= 1.301 1.182 1.464 1.768
Lift-of thrust, T01= 360 kN 360 kN 1080 kN 2520 kN
Thrust enhancement, n0≡T01/G0= 15.0 10.6 20.3 27.1
Burning time 1st stage, t1= 3.7 s 3.7 s 3.7 s 3.7 s
Specific impulse, sea level, I0sp1= 2115 m/s 2115 m/s 2115 m/s 2115 m/s
Specific impulse, vacuum, Isp1= 2257 m/s 2257 m/s 2257 m/s 2257 m/s
Ideal velocity 1st stage, W*1= 663 m/s 495 m/s 928 m/s 1355 m/s
Real end velocity 1st stage, v1= 514 m/s 346 m/s 716 m/s 1022 m/s
Real altitude 1st stage, h1= 923 m 590 m 1091 m 1407 m
Second stage: Standard Long Long Long
Initial mass, 2nd stage only, M02= 1390 kg 2400 kg 2400 kg 2400 kg
Structure mass, Ms2= 200 kg 505 kg 505 kg 505 kg
Propellant mass, Mp2= 715 kg 1820 kg 1820 kg 1820 kg
Payload & equipment, Mu= 475 kg 75 kg 75 kg 75 kg
Empty mass, 2nd stage, M12= 675 kg 580 kg 580 kg 580 kg
Start-up thrust, T02= 35 kN 35 kN 35 kN 35 kN
Thrust enhancement, n0= 2.570 1.49 1.49 1.49
Mass ratio, 2nd stage, μ02= 2.059 4.138 4.138 4.138
Burning time 2nd stage, t2= 44.6 s 113.5 s 113.5 s 113.5 s
Specific impulse, sea level, I0sp1= 2187 m/s 2187 m/s 2187 m/s 2187 m/s
Specific impulse, vacuum, Isp2= 2670 m/s 2670 m/s 2670 m/s 2670 m/s
Speed increment 2nd stage, ∆v2= 891 m/s 2666 m/s 2736 m/s 2711 m/s
Ideal velocity 2nd stage, W*2= 1928 m/s 3793 m/s 3792 m/s 3792 m/s
Global: (Circular 160 km velocity v0=7489.0 m/s)
Gross initial mass, M0 = 2400 kg 3410 kg 5430 kg 9470 kg
Burn-out altitude, hC= 35.9 km 71.7 km 81.1 km 85.8 km
Downrange cut-of position, sC= 4.8 km 102.5 km 143.7 km 173.1 km
Cut-of elevation, θC= 80.8° 23.7° 18.8° 16.4°
Real cut-of velocity, vC= 1405 m/s 3012 m/s 3452 m/s 3733 m/s
Ideal velocity, total, W*= 2591 m/s 4287 m/s 4720 m/s 5147 m/s
Coast apogee, hmax= 131.4 km 160.0 km 160,0 km 160,0 km
Downrange at apogee, smax= 34.9 km 494.0 km 596.1 km 664.2 km
Remaining apogee velocity, vD= 214 m/s 2716 m/s 3226 m/s 3538 m/s
Impact range, LE= 70.2 km 1018 km 1235 km 1379 km
Impact velocity, vE= 458 m/s 353 m/s 329 m/s 318 m/s

37
38 Radu Rugescu

Version V.12.
This simple version involves modification of the second stage only.
Military equipment of 400 kg in this stage is removed and the gross mass of the
second stage is increased from 1390 kg to 2400 kg, including a payload of 75 kg
and largely extended propellant tanks. Due to the smooth flight trajectory, the
propellant pendulum-type suction pitheads and anti-sloshing diaphragms are
removed from the tanks. The gimbal mounting of the LM involve an optimal
choice between a head spherical bearing and a Cardano cross-link. A new and
improved mass ratio equal to 4.138 can thus be achieved.
The thrust-to-weight ratio of 1.5 balances well between the requirement
for a massive second stage and a fast climbing rate. The basic LM S2.720 of the
second stage, provided with a dual thrust construction, will be used at the
maximal thrust of 35 kN. Its combustion time of 22-48 seconds should be
extended up to a total of 113.5 seconds to consume the larger propellant quantity
of 1820 kg. In the present study the original IRFNA nitric acid oxidizer (27%
N2O4+73% HNO3) and German fuel Tonka-250 (50% Triethylamine+50% Meta-
Xylidine) are preserved, to avoid changes in the propulsion system. This meets the
demands for low development costs and acceptable reliability. The above given
trajectory allows injecting a third stage into a low orbit at 160 km. Adding there a
Δv= 4773 m/s for that third stage the circular orbit will be successfully achieved.

Version V.32.
Without other modifications in the second stage, two extra SM-s are
mounted in parallel to the existing booster, to extend the starting thrust to three
times that of the present, standard rocket booster. The new first stage is thus
formed of three similar PRD-18 motors with almost identical mass and thrust
characteristics. Some subsequent modifications are inevitable however, regarding
the connecting means between the two stages of the rocket, a new, hot gas duct
communication between the three thrust chambers for pressure balance and new,
inclined nozzles on the lateral engines for thrust alignment. This new
configuration is given in Fig.3. They also involve a reduction in the number of
fins, the large ones on the second stage proving unnecessary and being removed.
Thrust vectorization solves the attitude control on the second stage powered flight,
most of which is performing at high altitude with too thin an atmosphere,
inasmuch of the eventual third stage, which runs in an almost absolute vacuum.
The original solid booster was designed with a modest technology, according to
the needs of the SA application. It has a poor mass ratio of 2.525 relative to the
high demands as a space launcher. It is yet the largest solid rocket motor
developed during WW-2. The blend A-100 triple-base propellant (NC-NG-DNT +
additives) supplies a see level specific impulse of 2200 m/s at a convenient burn
temperature of 2500°K. Upgrading is envisaged [16].
 NERVA vehicles, Romania’s access to space 39

5. NERVA version V.72

The extreme version

involves a total of seven,
clustered SM-s, the maximal
allowable geometric extension.
The resulting vehicle has a mass,
thrust characteristics and
computed performances as given
in the last column of Table 1,
when the launch takes place
under an elevation angle of
θ0=54.61º to achieve a 160-km
orbit from sea level start. The
lift-of thrust is raising to 210 Fig. 3. [Link]-off, artist’s concept.
metric tons, inducing a maximal
acceleration of 26g, at the limit of the structure tolerance of the second stage. This
only adds 165 m/s to the apogee velocity, perhaps too small to justify this
tremendous extension. An artist image of the lift-of is given in Fig. 3.

6. The third stage for NERVA version V.33

A direct ascent trajectory involves a very long burn time of 217.4 sec for a
third stage that raises considerable problems of thermal protection. The choice is
to adopt a coast climb after SECO with a shorter burn of 23 seconds at the apogee.
Table 2 The start of the three-stage
Third stage: vehicle version begins under a
Structure & payload, Mf3 =18.75 kg relatively small elevation θ0=64.6º that
Propellant mass, Mp3 =56.25 kg proves a very sensitive parameter for
Payload & equipment, Mu =? Kg the successful orbital injection. Such
Third stage mass, M03 =75 kg
ascent trajectories are common for
Start-up thrust, T03 =7357.5 N
Thrust enhancement, n3 =10.0 gravity turn ascents, often used for
Burning time, tb3 =22.9 s example by the Japanese vehicles of
Mass ratio, μ03 =3.45 class Mu. The coast of the third stage,
Specific impulse, Isp3 =3500 m/s which had been previously separated
Ideal velocity 3rd stage, W*3 =4852 m/s
from the second stage to enter accurate
Global ideal velocity, W* =9102 m/s
Real velocity 3rd stage, v3 =7491 m/s attitude control, lasts for 135 seconds.
Orbital altitude, h0 =160,0 km The third stage must remain under
Injection downrange, smax =650 km close attitude control during the coast
and all the powered ascent phases.
The drawback of the high thrust-to-weight ratio of the third stage engine is
a very high acceleration a=40g at the end of combustion of the third stage.

39
40 Radu Rugescu

7. Improvements in the propulsion system

Quadruple fins
actuators become
both fins and LE
actuators

Stirring fins
become fixed fins

Fastened thrust
frame becomes
gimbal thrust
frame

Fixed turbine
exhaust becomes
mobile exhaust

Reinforced
interstage
mount

Fig. 4. Single SM
Propulsion enhancements booster becomes
for the NERVA space clustered SM-s
launcher.
 NERVA vehicles, Romania’s access to space 41

The minimal modifications of the propulsion system are shown in Fig. 4 and
consist of the following main chapters:
-reinforcement of the inter-stage fixture mount for higher boost thrust;
-clustering of several boosters;
-gimbal mounting of the liquid propellant engine of the second stage;
-transforming the fixed turbine exhaust into a roll control system;
-extending actuators action over the rotating LM;
-stirring fins transform into fixed.
As an alternative, the fins may remain mobile and the position control of the
thrust chamber will be achieved in parallel with the basic air fins control from the
second stage vehicle. These small improvements pretend a massive computational
work of structure verification and suitable high-level design technology, to
preserve the good reliability of the basic SA-2 vehicle into the present limits or
higher. A large series of structure details remain to be also improved, as for
example the oxidizer and fuel sinks from the tanks that may be conveniently
replaced with direct tank bottom sinks. We recollect that the very mobile sinks are
compulsory on board an anti-aircraft rocket vehicle, aimed to perform large
maneuvers in following the target airplane, to avoid discontinuities in propellant
supply due to the inevitable large amplitude liquid sloshing. The problem of
propellant sloshing is critical in all rocket vehicle systems and deserves a special
attention. Developments on this subject will be presented in separate papers as
one of the main research topics regarding the NERVA orbital launcher. We
resume on saying that in most of the current LE space transporter systems a direct
aspiration of the propellants from the tank is present. From this simplification
some useful mass saving results. Other structural modifications are necessary to
improve the stability of the much longer tank section, although a considerable
contribution to the structural stiffness is induced by tank pressurization with
helium gas, simultaneously used to avoid pump cavitation. They involve
stiffening of the out-of-tanks sections of the coke, especially in the lower part of
the second stage structure where the dynamic loading is much higher.
A considerable improvement in vehicle ideal velocity is obtained by replacing
the current propellant A-100 of the first stage booster with the new PEI-400 high
energy one, which is expected to raise the sea-level specific impulse from 2200
m/s to almost 2440 m/s [16]. The considerable previous experience of the UPB
team in developing high energy colloidal propellants is successfully used again.
Otherwise a special emphasis will also be directed towards improvements in
the second stage of the vehicle by replacing the standard SA-2 bi-propellant
combination with higher energy alternatives. Besides an increased specific
impulse of the LRM a reduction of toxicity of the propellant components is
targeted, accompanied by a reduction of its impact upon the environment, during
the preparation for launch. Cost reductions of the operation will follow.

41
42 Radu Rugescu

8. Development management of the launcher and satellite

The minimal modification of the source vehicle and the design of the
minimal PUBSAT satellite involve computational work in all areas, design work
in the area of propulsion, structure and avionics and experimental work on
laboratory scale and flying versions, all spanned over a period of five years. The
tasks of development management are summarized in Fig. 5.
Management plan for
NERVA and PUBSAT

Preliminary research Structure research Propulsion research Avionics research

Nominal ascent trajectory Flight loads definition Solid motor clustering Power on-board supply

Perturbed ascent trajectory Structure behavior modeling Liquid motor gimbal Telemetry & telecommunications

Avionics accuracy requirements Local loading effects Liquid motor tilt driver Attitude control avionics

Stability control Dynamic structure simulations Extended liquid motor burn On-board LAN

Fig. 5: Management of NERVA and PUBSAT development

The preliminary estimates of the development costs of the standard two-

staged transporter are at 50 mill. euros level for the five years period.

10. Conclusion

The effect of Earth diurnal rotation will be well exploited whether the
launching site is selected on the West Bank of the Black Sea, near the 43.5°
northern latitude, at the southern border of the Romanian territory. A convenient
95° (almost East) launch azimuth is considered and the entire length of the Black
Sea is thus available for the ascent path, which means a free corridor of 1000 km,
with NNW-ESE orientation. Low investments are required for the launch site, due
to the specific mobility of the SA-2 Guideline launcher system. The local Earth
surface velocity of 328 m/s is added to the vehicle at orbital injection. The lifetime
of the LEO satellite will not overpass one month, considered enough to prove the
reliability of the NERVA-PUBSAT system and its development potential.
Regarding the second stage LM propulsion system, emphasis will be put in
designing and building a static test facility, presently nonexistent on the Romanian
territory, where the propulsive efficiency characteristics of the stage could be
definitely monitored. A distinct funding must be provided under a grant contract
for this purpose. The main component of the propulsion system supposed to
experimental evaluation will be the turbo-pump assembly, electrically driven to
securely simulate the working conditions during the powered mission. A test stand
should provide the true results of applying new solutions for the turbo-pump.
 NERVA vehicles, Romania’s access to space 43

This turbo-pump test rig will ultimately be used in providing practical

information on how the actual turbo-pump will work with different propellant
combinations, starting from HTP and nitrogen tetroxide as oxidizers, as
alternatives to the present very efficient but hazardous IRFNA (Inhibited Red
Fuming Nitric Acid) oxidizer, and up to methanol, nitro-derivatives of methane or
even cryogenic liquid methane as liquid fuels. Aluminum powder in a suspension
into the fuel will also be investigated. Possible changes in the design of the pumps
and of the bearings in particular are expected. Extensive numerical simulations of
the combustion process will be performed and will preclude the experimental
work, based on the known previous expertise of the team in this field [20]. Drastic
increment in propulsive efficiency and less hazardous manipulation of the
propellant components is expected [19]. A project proposal for funding of those
experimental investigations was recent forwarded and stands under evaluation. A
specific contribution of the author to the predicting power of thermochemical
computations of the combustion process is related to the observed and still
inexplicable cease of chemical equilibrium below a definite temperature of
“freezing”. A separate, theoretical basic investigation funding request on the
causes of such a blocking of chemical reactions at high temperatures in the
combustion products of O-N-C-H propellants had successfully passed the first
stage of the evaluation process for acceding a national CNCSIS support grant. It
will considerably help in providing computational evidence of the efficiency of
different propellant combinations here considered for the second stage of
NERVA.
Regarding the third stage SM, a balance between requirements and
technology must be further investigated and perhaps a regressive burning
geometry and a variable-geometry nozzle would have been introduced. The entire
ascent trajectory remains within the inner limits of the region of Black Sea. For a
West-East launch from the most southern point of the Romanian territory the
orbital plane crosses the Eastern Shore of the Black Sea on the Georgian and
Armenian territories. This involves agreements with those countries, otherwise
traditional partners of Romania. No special concerns arise, although special
political arrangements could prove necessary.
The satellite PUBSAT is envisaged for applications in the field of remote
sensing and ground resources surveillance, especially oriented towards enhanced
environmental policies. Besides the above mainly envisaged applications,
telecommunications in remote areas of the country and home TV networks are
also under consideration. The NERVA project enters the class of small,
responsive and cheap space transporters, of intense interest. A co-operating
activity involving Greece, Spain and US is envisaged. Another recent proposal of
co-operation with France for defining the communication system of the PUBSAT
satellite is under international evaluation for sponsorship on the European level.

43
44 Radu Rugescu

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