SPACECRAFT SYSTEMS LIMITED

Introduction

Spacecraft Systems was founded by former UK Ministry of Defence Aerospace Engineer Marcus Massey in order to provide full service flight access to Earth orbit to companies, educational establishments, organizations and private individuals for experiments, programmes, schemes, commercial projects or space flight tourism. The company would have operated a complete liaison for customers whatever the size or complexity of their flight requirements, whether virtual or physical. Spacecraft Systems would have had access to crewed vehicles in Earth orbit and would have provided in-flight servicing of equipment or experiments as necessary and as practical limitations allowed. This site provides an explanation of the services the company planned to offer. If you would like notification of updates by email or you are interested in finding out more about operations then please get in touch via the contact page. If you are interested in the concept of privately financed spaceflight then Spacecraft Systems would very much like to hear from you at: marcus.massey@spacecraft-systems.com

Objective

The services Spacecraft Systems planned to provide were primarily geared towards industrial processes, experimentation and research, but in actual fact any potential interested party was welcome to present their individual requirements. Spacecraft Systems provided a service that had previously been beyond all but the most favoured or wealthy participants that were capable of large capital investment, absorbing long preparation and protracted lead times at great risk.

Spaceflight utilization is on the brink of being entirely affordable to any company or private individual at modest cost with 'off the shelf' design philosophies. Spacecraft Systems is making this easily available by providing the resources and backup to achieve the operational objective desired by the customer.

Spacecraft Systems provided assistance with deriving mission parameters, mission planning & mission engineering, design of payload, engineering liaison, launch operations and delivery of results and hardware. Spacecraft Systems didn't insure missions, systems or experiments.

There was no payload too small or too light that Spacecraft Systems would not consider to fly in space.

Spacecraft Systems is still keen to raise the profile of Astronautics and Space Science in the public consciousness.

If you have any queries regarding the company or the services we offer please get in contact via marcus.massey@spacecraft-systems.com

Advantages of Microgravity

Microgravity is a description of an environment that is virtually absent from the influence, or distortion, of gravity as it is felt on Earth - in other words objects are weightless - even though their mass is of course unchanged. However, microgravity actually broadly refers to the virtual absence of all external accelerations rather than to just the special case of gravity acceleration. Microgravity research primarily involves laboratory science with controlled, model experiments that inherently require attention and intervention by the experimenter. Furthermore, there is a scientific need to understand better the role of gravity in many physical, chemical, and biological Systems.

Areas of research that would benefit from microgravity experimentation are:

Health: Human body processes and maintenance of fitness.

Biotechnology: Macromolecular crystal growth by diffusion crystallization, such as proteins, to great quality. Manipulation and manufacture of biological molecules, tissues, and living organisms to produce or obtain products or perform functions. Cellular response to low stress environments.

Fluid Physics: The fluid dynamics and transport phenomena affected by the presence of gravity.

Combustion: Studying processes of ignition, propagation and extinction during combustion of gaseous, liquid, and solid fuels and on combustion synthesis in a low-gravity environment.

New Materials: Development of electronic and photonic materials, glasses and ceramics, polymers, and metals and alloys.

Process Improvements: The better understanding of the behaviour of materials will have a significant effect upon production techniques and new technologies.

Low-Temperature Microgravity Physics: The study of critical phenomena, low temperature, atomic, and gravitational physics, and other areas of fundamental physics where significant advantages exist for studies in a low gravity environment.

Biotechnology:

Gravity levels significantly effect tissue and cell engineering. Microgravity allows the isolation of mechanisms dominant in the evolution of cell structure. Among other applications in this discipline microgravity experimentation could be used to develop artificial organs and organo-reactors (bioreactors are vessels that can grow cancers and other tissues outside the body). Microgravity experiments have already been conducted for detailed research into cancers, diabetes, emphysema, and immune system disorders on the Space Station Mir and many Shuttle flights. An example of what can be done is that high quality crystals of the enzyme that HIV needs to reproduce can be grown in order to determine its structure accurately. Inhibiting pharmaceuticals can then be designed and produced.

Fluid Physics:

In fluid physics the major factors effecting behaviour on Earth are sedimentation and buoyancy induced flows. These are eliminated in microgravity. Microgravity allows the study of fluid phenomena that are either dominated or completely masked by these processes. The thermo-physical properties measured in microgravity have incredible accuracy, which facilitates development of new alloys and materials. In fact, fluid mechanics and transport phenomena represent both a distinct discipline and a scientific theme that impact nearly all microgravity research experiments. The environment results in greatly reduced density-driven convection flows and allows the study of other forms of convection such as flows driven by magneto/electrodynamics, surface tension gradients and other interfacial phenomena. The term 'fluids' refers to gases, plasmas and liquid materials from low temperature superfluids to high temperature liquid metals and alloys and their mixing characteristics.

Combustion:

Combustion involves research into Premixed Gas Flames, Gaseous Diffusion Flames, Droplet/Spray Combustion, Surface Combustion, Smouldering, and Combustion Synthesis. Studies may be made on the effects of gravity on flammability limits, flame stability and extinction, low-flow turbulent flames, and laminar flame structure and shape. The aim is to discover mechanisms in order to develop simple analytical tools and detailed numerical analysis for qualifying thI. Several discoveries important to hazard control and combustion science have already been made in microgravity on the Space Station Mir and various Shuttle missions.

Studies of Gaseous Diffusion Flames concern the effects of gravity on soot formation, relationships between chemical kinetic time scales and flow time scales, flammability limits and burning rates, and structure of gas-jet diffusion flames.

Combustion of fuel droplets, particles, and sprays, are required for improved understanding of the interactions of combustion of individual droplets in sprays. This includes examining combustion of single-component, multi-component spherical droplets and ordered arrays of fuel droplets and of sprays. Several new droplet combustion phenomena have been revealed in drop tower microgravity testing but longer term studies will lead to major improvements in design of liquid fuel combustion machines.

Investigations into the spread of flames across solid and liquid fuel surfaces, both in quiescent oxidizer environments and with low velocity flows, are crucial in fire safety. The importance of experimental studies of smouldering combustion, both on the Earth and in space, is obvious.

Microgravity greatly simplifies the combustion synthesis of materials. Buoyancy-induced flow effects on heat transport processes no longer effect it. Gravity-driven flow of liquid-phase intermediates prior to freezing is also avoided. The crystal morphology of the final product (which strongly affects its properties) is sensitive to the temperature-time history seen during the passing of the combustion wave.

Microgravity combustion research has demonstrated major differences in structures of various types of flames from that seen in normal gravity. The practical implications of these results from combustion efficiency to pollutant control and flammability are energy conservation, environmental husbandry and fire safety. Better mechanistic understanding of individual processes making up the combustion can be obtained by comparing results gathered in microgravity and on Earth.

New Materials:

Materials science is the study of how materials form and how the forming process controls a material's properties. The production processes for most materials include steps that are very heavily influenced by the force of gravity. By careful modelling and experimentation, the mechanisms by which materials are formed can be better understood, and processing designed and improved.

Observing, monitoring and studying these processes in microgravity promises to increase our fundamental understanding of production processes and of their effects on the properties of the final material. Space research will improve and control the design new metal alloys, semiconductors, ceramics, glasses, and polymers to improve the performance of a wide range of products and enable entirely new products to be produced.

Low-Temperature Microgravity Physics:

Low-Temperature Microgravity Physics is research on transient and equilibrium critical phenomena, effects of boundaries on matter, superfluid hydrodynamics, quantum crystal growth and dynamics, laser cooling of atoms, and relativity and gravitational physics.

Experimentation in microgravity will provide unique improvements in Pharmaceuticals, Medical Instrumentation, Biomedical Products, Aerospace, Electronics, Fuel, Fluid Dynamics, Automotive, Oil, Food and Consumer Goods.

Flight Operation

There are many possible flight operations. Here is an nominal flight envelope:

Spacecraft Systems will utilize the opportunity offered by the Mini Station One [MS1], the MirCorp operated space station currently under development. The new space station will be in the same orbit as the International Space Station [ISS] although it will be phased in the orbital plane by less than 90 degrees. This will allow the possibility of low energy orbital transfer between the space stations. In addition MS1 will operate as a completely independent space station where, within reason, any commercial operation is feasible. Although the most well known consequence of this is the carrying of fee paying passengers to an orbiting 'hotel' the possibilities for science, engineering, pharmaceuticals, Earth observation, communications, industrial processes, astronomy and astronautics are indeed plentiful. As with the Salyuts, Mir and the ISS, MS1 will be supplied by Progress freighter spacecraft whenever required.

A nominal mission would begin with a Soyuz flight to MS1, carrying two professional astronauts and one passenger for a stay, lasting about three weeks. Once all operations are completed the crew would re-enter the Soyuz and fly to the ISS. The ISS must have a Soyuz docked at all times, in a flight ready condition, for ingress in the event that a space station evacuation is required. This 'lifeboat' must be routinely replaced before its flight clearance expires. Soyuz spacecraft are typically lifed for six months in space.

The MirCorp crew would dock their spaceship with the ISS and then service it for a swift departure. They would then exchange supplies and equipment with the ISS crew and subsequently return to Earth in the old Soyuz 'return to Earth vehicle'.

The interoperability of the Soyuz will also enable it as an orbital transfer vehicle for a flight from the ISS to MS1 in the event of an on-orbit emergency.

Private Flight Opportunities

Notwithstanding opportunities provided for commercial activities and research, Spacecraft Systems will also provide private individuals to fly payload, or indeed themselves, into space. In the recent past people have flown objects as diverse as wedding rings and their own cremated ashes 'buried' in Earth orbit within robust containers. The ashes will orbit the Earth for many centuries before the orbit finally decays and the capsule will re-enter the Earth's atmosphere in a fiery end.

Other projects also become possible, such as flying valuable objects and the capability to conduct small business projects. Any item flown in space can be provided with a certificate of authenticity and a photograph of the object with an astronaut on the Space Station.

History

London based Spacecraft Systems Limited was founded on the 21st July 1999 by Marcus Massey, exactly thirty years after Apollo XI landed on the Moon, in order to provide access to space flight without reliance upon governmental programmes and without being dependant upon political considerations.

Spacecraft Systems was originally conceived as providing the opportunity for companies, universities, research organizations and others to take advantage of the Mir space station's unique position for providing a low cost base in Earth orbit. Although Mir is no longer orbiting the initial concept of providing commercial spaceflight is still the objective of the company.

Mir flew around the Earth every ninety minutes for fifteen years; remarkable considering the original design was to operate for just seven years. In fact, by the end the spacecraft had actually orbited the Earth more than 86,330 times. She travelled 3,661,155,586 kilometres in her lifetime.

During the Shuttle-Mir Programme there were several Space Shuttle flights to Mir to deliver and collect American astronauts whom Rosaviakosmos allowed to live as guests on Mir for many months at a time.

The time between the core module of the Mir Orbital Complex lifting off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on the 19th February 1986 at 2128 GMT to the major pieces hitting the Pacific Ocean on the 23rd March 2001 at 0559 GMT amounted to 5510 days 8 hours 31 minutes during which she was host to over 100 people from 12 nations comprising Afghanistan, Austria, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Japan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Slovakia, Syria, UK and the USA. In that time the spacecraft travelled over 3.66 billion kilometres. What is left of her now resides 5 km deep at the bottom of the South Pacific Ocean.

Contact Spacecraft Systems at: marcus.massey@spacecraft-systems.com