George Finger

DBSA · Knowledge Unit

Spaceports have traditionally been characterized by performance measures associated with their site characteristics. Measures such as "Latitude" (proximity to the equator), "Azimuth" (range of available launch azimuths) and "Weather" (days of favorable weather) are commonly used to characterize a particular spaceport. However, other spaceport perfo...

Airports have begun incorporating Spaceport infrastructure and cooperative operations. We are witnessing the evolution of the Aerospaceport. For many years Spaceports were exclusively developed by the Federal Government. They then evolved to also include a State Federal based model. Now is the Spaceport development model is a mix of competing appro...

Operationally responsive launch sites and spaceports are required for national security to employ ready assets to space within hours, deploy staged assets within days and develop new or modified assets and launch systems in less than a year. Reduced processing and launch times lead to more frequent launch opportunities. Commercial launch providers...

The next generational leap in aviation will come with the integration of affordable commercial suborbital spaceflight. Reusable launch vehicles (RLVs) have critical site requirements to support their flight profiles. Aviation authorities, who plan future development with RLVs in mind, stand to reap the rewards of commercial spaceflight. Creation of...

Developing an appropriate explosive site plan for a potential spaceport is one part of ensuring safe operations for RLVs. One of the most important aspects in determining if a potential Aerospaceport can become licensed is the ability to provide sufficient safety to the general public. To reduce the likelihood of potential casualties from a launch...

Operationally responsive launch sites and spaceports are required for national security to employ ready assets to space within hours, deploy staged assets within days and develop new or modified assets and launch systems in less than a year. Reduced processing and launch times lead to more frequent launch opportunities. Commercial launch providers...

Spaceport development in the United States for many years was exclusively the purview of the Federal Government. It then evolved into also include a State – Federal based model. Now it is a mix of competing strategies which also involve State spaceport initia tives, private US domestic spaceports and private international spaceports. The goal of ma...

Many design professionals are arranged into technical areas which provide for development of comprehensive technical understanding of the materials, systems, hazards and operations of significant markets or client groups. In the past decade RS&H’s design workforce has tripled in size. Prior to this time our Aerospace designers were a close knit gro...

The current economy is placing tremendous pressures on most Aerospace businesses. These pressures challenge our abilities to maintain critical st aff, generate an acceptable profit, obtain financing for new operations and develop a comfortable backlog. How other companies react to these pressures within our Aerospace community and in other business...

Spaceport development in the United States for many years was exclusively the purview of the Federal Government. It then evolved to also include a State - Federal based model. Now it is a mix of competing models which also involve State spaceport initiatives, private US domestic spaceports and private international spaceports. To date, the authors...

Understanding the costs of implementing a new or revised space launch system is a key to understanding its business potential, analyzing its business case and funding its development. The design, construction and startup of a launch complex (including launch mount, flame deflector, component and fluid handling equipment, support equipment and facil...

The tangential momentum accommodation coefficient (TMAC) is used to improve the accuracy of fluid flow calculations in the slip flow regime where the continuum assumption of zero fluid velocity at the surface is inaccurate because fluid "slip" occurs. Molecular dynamics techniques are used to study impacts of individual gas atoms upon solid surface...

Numerous economic, technical and schedule factors affect the decision regarding where a privately funded commercial venture will locate a launch vehicle's final assembly, launch and landing infrastructure. The National Ranges (Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral AFS and Vandenberg AFB) provide comprehensive launch site capabilities. However, the n...

The Tangential Momentum Accommodation Coefficient (TMAC) is used to improve the accuracy of fluid flow calculations in the slip flow regime. Under such conditions (indicated by Knudsen number greater than 0.001), the continuum assumption that a fluid velocity at a solid surface is equal to the surface velocity is inaccurate because relatively signi...

Deployment of network enabled business tools, such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), will be a crucial economic growth factor in the first part of the twenty-first century. Those businesses and countries that are able to adopt these technologies rapidly and seamlessly will enjoy the attendant crest of growth while others will fall behind. This...