Bellatrix Aerospace - A private-sector Indian company developing Launch Vehicles for Space

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Garuda is an affordable launch vehicle under development at Bellatrix Aerospace. It falls in the medium lift category. It's a two stage rocket designed for complete re-use. It will feature a revolution in the field of rocket engineering by incorporating several innovations such as a next generation propulsion system and ingenious stage recovery mechanisms. Garuda will employ carbon composites in more than 80% of its construction.


PAYLOAD
1010kg to 700km Sun Synchronous Orbit

Designed to take multiple satellites to their dedicated orbits
Simple to integrate the payload

Payload Fairing Height 4m
Payload Fairing Diameter 3m
FIRST STAGE
Garuda, for the first time, will feature a unique thermodynamic cycle for its first stage engine. This engine called Kalam, will feature combustion tap-off cycle, i.e. it uses a pump-fed engine design with a tap-off cycle to take small amount of combustion gases from main combustion chamber to power the engine turbopumps. This produces high impulse and is much simpler than pre-burning staged combustion because of its single combustion chamber and graceful shut down mode. This engine is designed to generate 800kN thrust in vacuum.
SECOND STAGE
The second stage of Garuda will use a single Aeon engine. This stage is designed for multiple restart capability. The Aeon engine will feature turbo-pumps driven by Brushless DC motors powered by advanced batteries. This will eliminate the need for complex turbo-machinery and highly complex plumbing. This engine is designed to generate 41kN thrust in vacuum.








PAYLOAD

1010kg
TO 700KM SSO

MASS

43,000kg
HEIGHT

27m
DIAMETER

1.9m
FIRST STAGE

800kN
SEA LEVEL THRUST

SECOND STAGE

41kN
VACUUM THRUST

PAYLOAD FAIRING

4M
HEIGHT

PAYLOAD FAIRING

3m
DIAMETER

PRICE

5.4m
USD
FUEL
Both the stages of Garuda will use Liquid Methane and Liquid Oxygen as its propellants. These are clean burning fuels. Clean burning do not produce carbon compounds (coking), making it easier for reuse. This propellant combination also provides high specific impulse. Many rocket engines employ helium pressurization system is extremely complex and carries certain risk.
CAPABILITIES
Garuda is designed to launch payloads in sun synchronous orbits and inclined orbits. The vehicle is capable of launching remote sensing satellites into polar sun synchronous orbits and small communication satellites to GTO. It is designed to be capable of launching multiple satellites in the same launch mission and placing satellites in equatorial, inclined as well as polar orbits.
AVIONICS
The avionics are responsible for control and monitoring of the engines, launch sequencing, trajectory planning, guidance, navigation and control from the beginning of the countdown all the way to orbit. To shrink our development time and costs, we use distributed computing architecture with a focus on common hardware and modularity across each rocket stage and function.
 

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With advances in technology, nano-satellites are becoming more and more capable. Bellatrix offers a simple and reliable dedicated nano-satellite launch vehicle with an aim to make nano-satellite launches more affordable than ever before. Chetak is a two stage vehicle, where the first stage is designed for reuse. Both the stages of Chetak will use liquid methane as fuel. Chetak features an all-carbon composite construction.
PAYLOAD
150kg to 700km Sun Synchronous Orbit

Designed to take multiple satellites to their dedicated orbits
Simple to integrate the payload

Payload Fairing Height 3m
Payload Fairing Diameter 2m

FIRST STAGE
The first stage of Chetak will use a four Aeon engines each capable of generating 41kN of thrust, giving a total thrust of 164kN. This stage is designed for multiple restart capability. The Aeon engine will feature turbo-pumps driven by Brushless DC motors power by advanced batteries. This will eliminate the need for complex turbo-machinery and plumbing.
SECOND STAGE
The second stage of Chetak will use a single Aeon engine. This stage is optimized for vacuum operation at a down rated 21kN thrust. Tis stage is also designed for multiple restart capability.




PAYLOAD

150kg
TO 700KM SSO

MASS

12,000kg
HEIGHT

19m
DIAMETER

1.4m
FIRST STAGE

164kN
SEA LEVEL THRUST

SECOND STAGE

21kN
VACUUM THRUST

PAYLOAD FAIRING

3m
HEIGHT

PAYLOAD FAIRING

2m
DIAMETER

PRICE

2m
USD
FUEL
Chetak is designed to launch payloads in sun synchronous orbits and inclined orbits. It is designed to be capable of launching multiple satellites in the same launch mission and placing satellites in equatorial, inclined as well as polar orbits. Bellatrix promises minimum wait periods of less than 1 month on Chetak.
CAPABILITIES
Both the stages of Chetak will use Liquid Methane and Liquid Oxygen as its propellants. These are clean burning fuels. Clean burning do not produce carbon compounds (coking), making it easier for reuse. This propellant combination also provides high specific impulse. Many rocket engines employ helium pressurization system is extremely complex and carries certain risk. Chetak's engines are autogenously pressurized, thus simplifying the design and eliminating the risk of explosion.
AVIONICS
The avionics are responsible for control and monitoring of the engines, launch sequencing, trajectory planning, guidance, navigation and control from the beginning of the countdown all the way to orbit. To shrink our development time and costs, we use distributed computing architecture with a focus on common hardware and modularity across each rocket stage and function. To make the avionics systems fail proof, we employ triple redundant systems.
 

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Today, satellites have become an indispensable part of our everyday life. Our mobile phones, TV sets, offices, the internet and smart devices cannot work without satellites. Bellatrix Aerospace is a key supplier of electric propulsion systems for satellites. These thrusters mark a revolution in the field of nano and micro satellite propulsion as the power requirement for these thrusters is relatively low. Electric Propulsion Systems are the prime mover for affordable access to space.
SATELLITE PROPULSION
All satellites need a means of moving through space, and their usual way of travelling resembles that of skaters: a short push and a long glide. All satellites move along orbits, as they revolve around a celestial body. Once rocket take satellites to their parking orbits, the satellites need to find their way to their nominal orbit. It needs to overcome gravitational pulls and keep itself in the orbit. It also needs to maintain its orientation as required by its function. To do this, the satellite needs its own propulsion system.
ELECTRIC PROPULSION
Traditionally chemical propulsion systems were used for satellite propulsion. Now, electric propulsion (EP) systems have evolved and are revolutionizing the satellite industry. An electrically powered spacecraft propulsion system uses electrical energy to change the velocity of a spacecraft. Most of these kinds of spacecraft propulsion systems work by electrically expelling propellant at high speed. Electric thrusters typically use much less propellant than chemical rockets because they have a higher exhaust speed (operate at a higher specific impulse) than chemical rockets.
ADVANTAGES OF ELECTRIC PROPULSION
Electric propulsion offers several advantages. Electric Propulsion is safe and these engines are more efficient than chemical ones, in the sense that they require much less propellant to produce the same overall effect, i.e. a particular increase in spacecraft velocity. The propellant is ejected up to twenty times faster than from classical thrusters and therefore the same propelling force is obtained with twenty times less propellant. Electric propulsion can produce force for a very long time as compared to chemical propulsion.
MICROWAVE ELECTROTHERMAL THRUSTER
Bellatrix Aerospace has developed and patented Microwave Electro-thermal Thrusters (MET), an advanced type of electric propulsion for satellites. This is an efficient electric propulsion system and has an unique distinction of being able to efficiently work on several propellants such as Argon, Xenon, Nitrogen, Ammonia and Water Vapour. MET is an electrode less (zero erosion), vortex stabilized thruster where microwaves are used to heat the propellant and produce a high temperature exhaust for in-space propulsion.

METs offer the following advantages over other types of propulsion units.
  • It offers 10 times more specific impulse than chemical thrusters

  • It offers multiple restart capability

  • A satellite weighing 6 tons with the use of chemical thrusters would weigh 4 tons when MET system is adopted for the same satellite.

  • Satellites which use MET offer more space for useful payload instead of wasteful propellant

  • It is safe (no static charge buildup and no interference) and highly reliable.

  • It is designed to increase the orbital life span of satellites by 5 years. Reduction in volume adds to reduced mission cost.
PROPULSION FOR NANO SATELLITES
The miniaturization of electronics has allowed nano-satellites to bridge the gap in function and capability as compared to their larger satellite counterparts. To avail full functionality, nano-satellites must operate in groups called constellations. The main reason attributed to the gap in functionality is all down to the propulsion systems powering the craft. Their extremely small size requires new innovations in propulsion which is mainly due to the low systems payload carried by the craft. At the present scenario, the lack of innovation in propulsion systems only adds to spiralling costs and decrease in capability as crafts in Low Earth Orbit require periodic corrections in altitude and orbital switching. These shortcoming has resulted in nano-satellites with a full mission cycle of only 2 years before being redundant. This results in frequent launches that only add to the huge costs. At Bellatrix Aerospace, Innovation in R&D of electric propulsion units have enabled us to address the above shortcomings and extend the actual life of nano-satellites 3 times as compared to the present technology using our thrusters. This will allow manufacturers and companies to set up nano-satellite constellations that will provide full capability to their organizations and allow more science to be undertaken while dramatically reducing the costs in operations and maintenance of the satellite constellations. Electric Propulsion is the future!
Testing of MET thruster
HALL EFFECT TRUSTERS
Hall Effect Thruster or Stationary Plasma Thruster (SPT) is a type of advanced ion propulsion system. They work by trapping electrons in a magnetic field and then use the electrons to ionize propellant, efficiently accelerate the ions to produce thrust. At Bellatrix SPT's with 40mN and 90mN thrust output is under development. The developmental process is expected to be completed in second half of 2018.
MAGNETO PLASMA DYANMIC THRUSTER
Magnetoplasmadynamic Thruster (MPDT's) or Lorentz Force Accelerators (LFA) is an advanced type of electric propulsion system, capable of generating high thrust(~200N) with very high specific impulses (>20,000 seconds). Presently they are unrealistic to be operated in space owing to its requirement of power in the range of 50-200MW. This type of thruster, however has the potential for efficient interplanetary exploration in the future when such power is made available in Space. Bellatrix is independently carrying out R&D on MPDT's since June 2013 to understand its physics and operationalise it in the future.
 

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