Hybrid Rocket Propulsion and In-Situ Propellant Production for Future Mars Missions

Abstract

This article shows that a combination of in-situ resource utilization and hybrid rocket propulsion represents a very competitive solution for future medium to large-scale missions to the red planet. A high performance liquid oxygen/paraffin medium-scale hybrid ascent vehicle, of which the oxidizer has been acquired through decomposition of carbon dioxide on the surface of Mars, is estimated to achieve more than 40% mass reduction in respect to the same vehicle brought from Earth, thus outperforming all conventional designs. All the technologies needed are detailed and the in-situ propellant production (ISPP) unit is precisely sized for two selected missions: Mars Sample Return (payload of 36 kg) and the medium-scale case (payload of 500 kg). The many advantages of this design (notably in simplicity, safety and size) over currently dominant in-situ liquid-powered concepts are discussed. The innovative idea described in this article supports renewed interest in hybrid rocket propulsion for space exploration and opens the way for newly ambitious robotic and manned missions to the planet Mars.