Cassini Swarm
Delta IV Launch Vehicle
The Delta IV Medium+ is an expendable launch vehicle built by Boeing, operated by United Launch Alliance, and is used for commercial launches, military missions, and NASA. It can be launched from both Vandenberg AFB and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The Delta IV Medium+ is a two-stage rocket with a payload fairing and can have solid booster rockets attached for additional lift. The following specifications describe the rocket’s features and abilities [1]:
Main Engine
The main engine is similar to the design used in the Cassini probe, which is pictured to the left. The engine has primary and redundant pressure-regulated main rocket engines. Each engine is capable of a thrust of approximately 445 N when regulated. The bipropellant main engines burn nitrogen tetroxide (N2O4) and monomethylhydrazine (N2H3CH3) [2].
The engines are gimballed such that with 3-axis AACS enabled, thrust and torque can be applied to orient the probe in 3-dimensional space.
Propulsion Systems
There are two propulsion systems involved with sending the Cassini Swarm Orbiter to Titan. The first is the launch vehicle, which TitanTech has selected to be the Delta IV rocket. The second is the main engine on board the Orbiter that allows deep space maneuvers (DSMs) on-command from ground control. The purpose of the DSMs range from trajectory maintenence to trajectory modification to orientation.
