Reusable lunar lander

1Berdnyk, OI, 1Lysenko, YO, 1Kaliapin, MD, 1Buhaienko, TK
1Yangel Yuzhnoye State Design Office, Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine
Space Sci. & Technol. 2019, 25 ;(5):03-10
https://doi.org/10.15407/knit2019.05.003
Publication Language: Russian
Abstract: 
Application of reusable systems can essentially increase the efficiency of space transportation, especially in case of using a space-manufactured propellant, the first source of which will be the Moon. Therefore, the top-priority and most important chain of future “near-Moon orbit – Moon” infrastructure will become the space transportation system where the key element will be a Reusable Lunar Lander (RLL). It will ensure cargo and passenger traffic from lunar orbit to the Moon surface and back.
               The current paper gives scenarios of RLL application for different design stages and specifies the main requirements for its development. The RLL structure is shown, and the composition of its core technical systems is given. Its propulsion unit will work on propellant produced on the lunar base from in-situ
resources, and the on-board systems are optimized in terms of reusability and universality of application, in particular, in cases for delivery of cargo and rotation of lunar base crews. The main characteristics and payload capacity of RLL, composition of the transportation system, and lunar infrastructure used together with RLL are given. The paper also shows the preliminary analysis of the economic efficiency of using the reusable lunar lander in comparison with expendable versions and the prospects of its application.
Keywords: lunar base, reusable lunar lander
References: 
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