Artemis Project: Lunar Launch System Comparison

THE ARTEMIS PROJECT
PRIVATE ENTERPRISE ON THE MOON

Launch from Luna
Section 2.10.

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Lunar Launch System Comparison

Bruce Soluski

Chemical Rocket
- Requires little R&D
- Well-used and understood technology
- Flexible
- Small payload capacity
- Expensive to operate
- Fuel:
  1. Imported Fuel
    - Requires no lunar infrastructure
    - High isp fuels avaliable
    - Low R&D demands
    - Expensive to get off Earth and soft land on the Moon
  2. Lunar LH2/LOX
    - Hydrogen is very rare on the Moon, except maybe at lunar poles
    - Highest available isp
  3. Lunar AL/LOX
    - Inexhaustable fuel supply
    - Comparitively low isp
    - Requires lunar infrastructure

Nuclear Rocket

Enormous power source
Flexible
Requires some R&D
Power source is radioactive
Working fluid:
1. H2
  - Hydrogen is very rare on the Moon, except maybe at lunar poles
  - Highest available isp
2. Lunar O2
  - Inexhaustable fuel supply
  - Lower isp then H2, but made up for by the power source
  - Requires lunar infrastructure

Mass Driver

Very cheap to operate
Capable of high velocities
The technology is advanced and demonstrateable
Needs to be dozens of kilometers long
Requires infrastructure for power supply - nuke or solar
Requires collection vehicles to collect capsules

Chemical Cannon

Lightweight, low-cost power source
Highly visible from Earth
Large construction project, even from prefabricated parts
Logistical, political problems
Becomes contaminated with radiation
Must have a barrel kilometers long which can withstand large pressures.
If to be usable for humans, barrel must be dozens of kilometers long
Working fluid: See Chemical Rocket above

Nuclear Cannon

Very cheap to operate per tonne of mass lifted
Allows orbiting of truely immense payloads
Very lightweight, low-cost power source
Highly visible from Earth
Logistical, political problems
Power source is a nuclear bomb
Must have a barrel kilometers long which can withstand large pressures
Not human-rated
Working fluid: See Nuclear Rocket above

Laser Launcher

Requires infrastructure for power supply
Requires use of classified SDI laser technology
Very inefficient
Working fluid: See Nuclear Rocket above

Solar Powered Rockets

Cheap to operate
Requires the craft to have delicate solar reflectors all over it
Inefficient
Low thrust
Working fluid: See Nuclear Rocket above

Space Elevator

Very cheap to operate
Allows orbiting of truly immense payloads
Requires super-kelvar cable to be developed
Requires object at about L2 to keep tension
58,000 KM of cable must be imported from a carbon-rich NEA or Earth

Content by Bruce Soluski <B_Soluski@pol.com> and <simon@eagle.ca>.

Launch from Luna