astronomy

Interorbital Systems

Interorbital Systems is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Interorbital Systems rather than just read about it. In short: Interorbital Systems (IOS) is an American space development company based in Mojave, California. It was established in 1996 by Roderick and Randa Milliron.

Key takeaways

Interorbital Systems belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Interorbital Systems to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Interorbital Systems from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Interorbital Systems (IOS) is an American space development company based in Mojave, California. It was established in 1996 by Roderick and Randa Milliron. As of October 2023, the company is in development stage for three orbital launch vehicles: NEPTUNE, TRITON, and TRITON HEAVY. Interorbital Systems has participated in the development of a launch vehicle for the Google Lunar X Prize Team Synergy Moon and has provided suborbital commercial launch services. For orbital launch, they have so far facilitated launches with ISRO and Jaxa. Additionally, the company participated as a competitor in the Ansari X Prize and America's Space Prize competitions.

History

Rocket designs

NEUTRINO Sounding Rocket Interorbital's first rocket was the NEUTRINO a liquid fueled pressure-fed bipropellant sounding rocket powered by an in-house GPRE 0.5NFA engine. It was 20ft in length, 8in in diameter with a gross mass of 380lbs and with a payload mass of 5lb that could reach an apogee of 65 miles. Three NEUTRINOs would be launched between 1999 and 2001 with no subsequent attempts. By 2009 the FAA still classified the NEUTRINO as an “additional conceptual vehicle” with the rocket never beginning the routine flights Interorbital had hoped for.

TACHYON Sounding Rocket In 2006, IOS held an active launch license from the Office of Commercial Space Transportation for Tachyon, a sounding rocket designed for suborbital flights reaching an apogee of 120 miles.

SOLARIS Launch Vehicle Solaris was a suborbital rocket design developed by IOS in the early 2000s. The intention behind the Solaris project was to compete for the Ansari X Prize. However, the rocket was not completed in time, and it was surpassed by Scaled Composites' SpaceShipOne, which successfully claimed the prize.

NEPTUNE Launch Vehicle The NEPTUNE rocket would use high-performance liquid oxygen and densified propane propellants. Its primary element was the Common Propulsion Module, or CPM, equipped with four stationary throttleable ablatively cooled liquid rocket engines, each capable of generating 4,500 pounds of thrust. Throttling of these engines allows for precise control of pitch, yaw, and roll during flight. Other versions used a single, 7,500-lb thrust engine, and/or a mixture of WFNA and turpentine for propellants. All versions would be fed propellants through a proprietary pressurant system, claimed to reduce the weight of the propellant tank/pressurant system to an equivalent of a traditional pump-fed system. By removing the propellant pump and the associated heavy electric or gas-generator pump-drive system, Interorbital Systems proposes to significantly reduce both the overall rocket development cost and the manufacturing time, leading to cost savings and improved efficiency in the manufacturing process. The NEPTUNE N1 rocket is proposed to use a single CPM, combined with a liquid-fuel upper stage powered by a single stationary ablatively cooled liquid rocket engine that generates 3,000 pounds of thrust, for a total height of 36 ft (11 m) and mass of 5,400 lb (2,400 kg). During the second stage engine burn and while in orbit, pitch, yaw, and roll control would be provided by cold-gas thrusters. The N3, N5, and N7 were planned to be using 3, 5 and 7 CPMs respectively, while carrying 18, 30 and 75kg to 310km polar circular orbit. Another proposed version was the N36, using 36 CPMs for a payload of 1000kg to LEO, proposed to carry the Synergy Moon lander for the Google Lunar X Prize and a notional 2-person crew capsule. Other sources call N5 the "Neptune 30" (after its intended payload mass) and have the 1000kg configuration with only 33 CPMs, and also mention a 84-unit Neptune 4000, intended to carry a six-person space tourism capsule. All Interorbital Systems (IOS) rockets are described as being launchable from an ocean barge equipped with motion compensation technology. Initially, IOS plans to conduct orbital flights from the Pacific Ocean southwest of Los Angeles.

Milestones The main engine of the Common Propulsion Module (CPM) underwent its first successful static engine firing on October 28, 2012. This composite chambered engine generated 7,500 pounds of thrust and used nitric acid and turpentine propellants. A boilerplate of the Common Propulsion Module Test Vehicle (CPM TV) weighing 1,200 lb (540 kg) with its payload completed its inaugural test flight on March 29, 2014, achieving a maximum altitude of 10,000 feet. The payloads on board included two CubeSats, a payload from Synergy Moon, and a music CD titled "ENCLOSURE" by John Frusciante, former guitarist of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The CPM TV will be reused for future test flights, and all payloads were successfully recovered without damage.

NEUTRINO Launch Vehicle

TRITON Launch Vehicle

Satellite kits The CubeSat Personal Satellite Kit is available in two configurations: a standard 1 kg (2.2 lb) version and a non-standard 1.33 kg (2.93 lb) version. These kits are constructed using an aluminum frame and are designed for conducting simple experiments, as well as for receiving and transmitting radio signals. They may also be used for personal purposes. The TubeSat Personal Satellite Kit offers an alternative to CubeSats. These kits are constructed entirely from printed circuit boards, and is in the shape of a 16-sided prism with an 8.94 cm (3.52 in) outside diameter and 12.7 cm (5.0 in) length, totaling 0.75 kg (1.7 lb) mass, of which 0.25 kg (0.55 lb) is user payload. According to their claims, the kits will be launched into self-decaying orbits at an altitude of 310 km (192 mi), eventually burning up in the Earth's atmosphere after several weeks. The company has a significant number of launches planned for both types of satellites.

Google Lunar XPrize Interorbital Systems became a member and launch provider for Team Synergy Moon in the Google Lunar X Prize competition in June 2016. The team proposed using a modified version of the NEPTUNE rocket consisting of 36 modules to transport their lunar rover to the surface of the Moon.

See also Private spaceflight Orbital spaceflight Sub-orbital spaceflight OTRAG, which used a similar modular rocket design Mojave Air and Space Port Team Synergy Moon FreeFly Astronaut Project

References

External links Interorbital Systems Official Site Trans Lunar Research Team SYNERGY MOON

Illustrations

Interorbital Systems: Test flight of the single CPM on March 29th, 2014 with four payloads on board. — Test flight of the single CPM on March 29th, 2014 with four payloads on board.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Interorbital Systems

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Interorbital Systems claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Interorbital Systems before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Interorbital Systems ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Interorbital Systems

In research: Interorbital Systems appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Interorbital Systems in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Interorbital Systems is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Mojave Air and Space Port, Private spaceflight companies, Propane, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Interorbital Systems outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Interorbital Systems in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Interorbital Systems means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Interorbital Systems out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Interorbital Systems in simple terms?

Interorbital Systems (IOS) is an American space development company based in Mojave, California. It was established in 1996 by Roderick and Randa Milliron.

Why does Interorbital Systems matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Interorbital Systems?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Interorbital Systems.