Independent Assessment of alternative launch vehicles for the Augustine Committee

The Aerospace Corporation was asked to perform, for the Review of U.S. Human Spaceflight (HSF) Plans Committee, also known as the Augustine Committee, the task of identification and independent evaluation of existing and proposed launch vehicles which alone or in combination could satisfy future NASA mission requirements. There were 14 various launch systems to compare based upon presentations made to the HSF Committee. This paper presents the methodology used in performing this assessment and summarizes the primary findings. This Launch Vehicle Assessment focused on the alternative launch systems presented to the HSF Committee with the objective of providing a mostly qualitative, comparative evaluation on as level a playing field as possible. The assessment methodology was kept simple and straight forward, consistent with the time allowed for the study and the anticipated level of detail. The process consisted of data collection about the concepts under consideration, establishment of metrics (as well as lower level supporting metrics) and the assessment of each vehicle system. The assessment also included the degree of uncertainty associated with each system. Evaluation metrics were defined to be both meaningful and comprehensive in terms of all the various concerns that decision makers and stakeholders might have in the evaluation of the future space transportation systems for human spaceflight. The assessment did not attempt to define winners or losers, but sought to prepare information that would inform the HSF Committee and act as a guide in its processes of integrating future launch systems into future mission scenarios.