The Space Propulsion Sizing Program

Abstract

The Space Propulsion Sizing Program is an advanced tool to facilitate vehicle design and broad system-level trade studies. It was designed to provide a simple and reliable means for rapid propulsion trade studies during the conceptual design phase. This is accomplished through a combination of mass estimating relationships, bottom-up calculations, and historical data to size several vehicle subsystems. Microsoft Excel and Visual BASIC were selected as the medium for the application of these methods. Through the versatility of Visual BASIC, several output modes are available for the vehicle mass breakdown and geometry estimates. The capability and reliability of this unique tool has been demonstrated by comparing estimates to real vehicles.