High Performance Nozzle for Mars Ascent Vehicle

ASTS is pleased to propose to demonstrate the feasibility of using an aerospike nozzle to provide a dramatic increase in payload capability to the two-stage, all-solid-propulsion Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV). The aerospike features a well-known altitude compensation capability, but the MAV operates in near-vacuum conditions so cannot take advantage of that aspect. Instead, the aerospike nozzle, at a comparable ~200:1 area ratio as is currently baselined for MAV, will be considerably shorter than a traditional bell nozzle. Thus, for a fixed motor length, a shorter aerospike nozzle will allow us to lengthen the motor case itself, thereby enabling us to load a substantial amount of additional propellant than the baseline. The resultant improvement in propellant fraction will provide significantly higher payload performance compared to the baseline--our preliminary calculations show that up to 40% additional propellant can be added to the each motor.

The MAV is our primary technology insertion opportunity, but an aerospike nozzle, particular on solid rocket motors, is applicable to a wide variety of NASA propulsion systems. Our ATK Elkton teammate, currently responsible for the MAV motor design, is also developing the pintle-controlled launch abort system (LAS) for the SLS program. A pintle-controlled aerospike may provide a positive impact to the LAS design as well.

The U.S. missile defense shield could benefit greatly from our technology development. Specifically, we have targeted the Missile Defense Agency's Common Kill Vehicle (CKV) program as our primary non-NASA technology insertion opportuniy.

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 5) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.

None of these are guaranteed paths for this specific project — TechPort itself doesn't have an "apply" button. Reaching out to the contact(s) above with a specific question is usually the fastest way to find out what's actually open.