Staging options and trajectory optimization for a hybrid propulsion mini launcher

The present work main topic is the preliminary design of a new mini launcher. The report describes step by step the the path followed during the analysis and calculations, starting from the very basics: identify the goals, motivations and main parameters behind such a project. The introduction chapter explains motivations and key targets that lays the foundations of the new launcher concept. To gather information about the state of the art regarding small lift launchers and sounding rockets a survey was carried out: it was very helpful to understand what values to expect and to locate a possible starting point. HyImpulse main purpose is the development of a complete hybrid propelled mini launcher: team and background are briefly presented before the start of the design process description. A chapter is dedicated to the analysis of staging options: algorithms and methods to calculate performance and mass distribution are presented and then applied with a review of the results obtained. The subsequent step is the analysis of trajectories and actual performance of the possible configurations: a simplified model was built to better understand the problem and for quick study of the parameters, then the software Astos was used for detailed performance analysis and trajectory optimization. Beside the mini launcher project, there is the development of sounding rockets: both for market purposes and technology demonstration reasons. A brief overview of the analysis done on the sounding rocket design is presented in the Appendix A.