Date of Award

Spring 2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Aerospace Engineering

Committee Director

Oleksandr Kravchenko

Committee Member

Marwan Al-Haik

Committee Member

Colin Britcher

Abstract

Sounding rockets are a suborbital research platform employed by NASA for heliophysics, astrophysics, geospace science investigations, and for technology development. They follow semi-parabolic trajectories and are launched using surplus military, and commercial, solid-propellant rocket motors. NASA sounding rocket payloads are comprised of standard, modular subassemblies, designed to perform specific functions critical to achieving specific mission success criteria.

Since the program’s inception, payload length and mass have trended upwards, limiting the capability of the platform to reach exospheric apogees and decreasing the time above critical altitudes to observe solar and celestial targets. To offset this trend, composite materials may be of use in payload and subsystem design to decrease payload mass. This investigation seeks to understand if there is a practical benefit to introducing composite materials on the NASA Sounding Rocket Program (NSRP) by assessing mission specific impacts to missions conducted in fiscal year 2024.

To accurately estimate the mass of a composites-based payload, a standard subsystem (NIACS) underwent structural reconfiguration. Composite materials were selected that align with NSRP design, manufacturing, and testing standards. Finite element analysis verified that structural composite parts can withstand the sounding rocket loading environment. NIACS reconfiguration resulted in a mass reduction of 19.6%. This mass-efficiency factor was then applied to the payload mass. Using vehicle performance carpet plots, delta apogee and time above the Kármán line were determined. Performance improvements were evaluated against mission success criteria to determine if a mission would benefit from incorporating composite materials. On average, each mission would have gained 59.8 kilometers apogee and 62.9 seconds above the Kármán line. However, only nine of the seventeen missions launched in the fiscal year would have benefitted from these improvements. Two of the missions could have used a lower-impulse launch vehicle to achieve mission success. Composite-based payloads met programmatic, rigid body stability criteria. A cost analysis indicates that composite-based payload systems will increase recurring production costs by an estimated 39%. Existing program manufacturing capabilities will need to be expanded to process formed composites, requiring substantial capital investments in facilities and equipment.

In summary, composite materials are not recommended for ubiquitous use on NASA sounding rocket payloads as only a subset of mission benefited from their implementation. However, lightweighting subsystems common to astrophysics and heliophysics missions should be pursued to enhance observation time. Elevated production costs and initial capital investments are likely to limit composite adoption on the platform. The program should consider outsourcing composite part manufacturing or using preformed composite stock in payload subsystem design.

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DOI

https://doi.org/10.25777/r52q-qp80

ISBN

9798197809377

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