Starlet/Starlite

Starlet/Starlite was a 1967 Lockheed concept for a launch vehicle and space probe combo. Both the launcher and the probe were very small and lightweight; this was due to high energy propellants (namely, fluorine) in the launcher and inflatable structures in the probe. The launcher was unusual in that it was to be launched from a mobile facility, similar to Soviet road-mobile ICBMs... which probably gives some good insight into the genesis of the launcher.

The Starlet was a small launch vehicle, fairly conventional in layout and appearance, with three hydrogen/fluorine stages and with a launch weight of 12,000 kg. It could generate a 15.5 km/sec characteristic velocity with a 57 kg payload. All planets in the solar system could be visited with such a system with a travel item of less than ten years. The high Isp and high oxidizer to fuel ratio made the vehicle quite small. The second and third stage engines were conventional bell-nozzle engines, while the first stage engine was a toroidal aerospike in order to compensate for the great change in atmospheric pressure the boost stage would see. The Starlet was 1.5 meters (5 feet) in diameter and 17.4 meters (57 feet) tall. Further details can be found in the pages reproduced below.

The Starlite was a modular spacecraft that could fulfill a number of roles. It was an inflatable craft, using a large inflatable mirror to reflect sunlight onto solar cells for power, and to serve as a communications antenna.

The pages reproduced below represent only a fraction of the report on Starlet/Starlite, but it is all that is currently available.

This information comes courtesy of Allen Thomson.
































Reference: "Starlet/Starlite Technical Description" Lockheed Missiles and Space Company, LMSC-A847990, December, 1967.



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