Author's Note: Creating the Appaloosa was a challenging experience as I worked out all the performance stats using the standard rocket equation. The modeling work too quite a long time too. While it was a fun project to do, I learned an important lesson: Don't model what you don't need.

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Appaloosa Launch Vehicle

Newcomer Wild Blue Industries' Appaloosa two-stage launch vehicle offers the best performance for the lowest cost. Their success is due in part to commonality between the lower and upper stages, use of modern technology, and RP-1 (rocket-grade kerosene) and liquid oxygen fuel instead of more costly liquid hydrogen/oxygen fuel. Both the Appaloosa Core Stage (ACS) and the Appaloosa Upper Stage (AUS) are designed to be reusable; the ACS uses a fly-back kit to land like an airplane, and the AUS uses a parafoil and an airbag to make a land-based recovery. The vehicle is built at their plant in Sunnyvale California and its components are transported to launch facilities at Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg Air Force Base via heavily modified Boeing 777-200 aircraft.

The version number, the number of core boosters in the first stage, and the number of upper stages identify the Appaloosa model. A letter code is sometimes added to distinguish certain models. For instance, an Appaloosa 111F signifies that the vehicle is version 1 of the launcher, it uses one core booster with a fly-back kit in the first stage and it has one upper stage. Both the Appaloosa Upper Stage and the Appaloosa Core Stage are identified by type of stage, production number, and a serial number representing its production date. For instance, AUS 08 06182005 identifies an Appaloosa Upper Stage, the 8th upper stage that was built, and it was built on June 18, 2005. Upper stages are named for scientists and engineers who helped advance spaceflight, while core boosters are named after employees at Wild Blue. For example, AUS 08 is named the Amy Ross after a space suit designer at NAXA.

The Appaloosa Core Stage uses four Charger rocket engines, each capable of delivering up to 750,000 lbs of thrust with a vacuum ISP of 350 second (304 seconds at sea level), though they typically operate at 50% of max thrust during normal flight. This feature ensures engine-out recovery from liftoff to orbit. In fact, an engine failed three seconds after liftoff during a mission in 2005 but the vehicle still completed its mission successfully.

Once separated from the upper stage, the ACS begins a slow turn back towards its launch site, rolling over on its back and using the oblique wing as a heat shield. It makes a hypersonic glide for most of the way, but once it reaches subsonic speeds, the booster rotates its oblique wing until it is perpendicular to the body to generate additional lift. The booster then fires up its jet engines for the final leg of the journey and performs a pinpoint landing entirely on autopilot.

The Appaloosa Upper Stage uses a single Charger engine, and like the ACS engines, it is capable of multiple restarts. Coupled with very low boil-off technology, RCS thrusters, solar arrays, and advanced avionics, the AUS performs double duty as a space tug to deliver a variety of payloads to orbit and maneuver them in space. Capable of in-orbit refueling, AUS serves as the propulsion module for several spacecraft including the Appaloosa Freighter, Appaloosa Tanker, and Wild Blue's Thunderbird.

Once it completes its de-orbit burn, the AUS separates from its payload and deploys a ballute-style inflatable heat shield that is covered with a heat resistant ceramic fabric similar to Nextel. It then re-enters the atmosphere, deploys its parafoil, and glides, making a landing after deploying its airbag. Typically the upper stage lands at either the White Sands Missile Range or the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah.

The first Appaloosa launch occurred in 2000 and its had a perfect delivery record ever since despite a handful of in-flight engine failures. The Appaloosa 131 took flight in 2002 and quickly replaced the Titan IVB. By 2004, Wild Blue Industries perfected its booster recovery systems, which resulted in significantly reduced launch costs.

The Appaloosa's launch-on-demand capability was a big factor in the Air Force's decision to own and operate a small fleet of Appaloosa launch vehicles, making it the first launch vehicle in the inventory that wasn't derived from a ballistic missile.

About Wild Blue Industries

"If you want to boldly go, we'll get you there."™

Wild Blue Industries (NASDAQ symbol: WILD) was founded in 1987 by Karen C. Cortez, the richest woman in America and the fifth richest person in the world, who made her billions through the world's biggest software company. Wild Blue Industries has been a pioneer in space technology, pushing into the final frontier of space at affordable prices. Their Appaloosa line of space launchers delivered on the shuttle's promise of cheap access to space with reusable technology while their Homestead space modules provide ample room for a variety of different uses.

With NAXA focused on manned exploration of the whole Solar System, commercial space has taken up the mantle of an in-depth exploration of the Moon. Wild Blue Industries teamed up with Bowman (NASDAQ symbol: BOW), Spartan Aerospace (NASDAQ symbol: SPAR) and Orbital Dynamics Incorporated (NASDAQ symbol: ODIN) to form the Shackleton Mining Company (SMC). SMC concentrates on mining lunar ice, refining it into usable propellant, and hauling it to Gateway Station orbiting the Earth-Moon Lagrange Point 2 (EML-2). Their Shackleton Lunar Mining Base was built from off-the-shelf hardware to keep costs down. Wild Blue's Homestead modules formed the basis of Shackleton Lunar Base at Shackleton Crater, for instance, while Spartan Aerospace provided RABBITs for lunar transportation. Freed from having to haul their entire fuel load to the Moon and back and liberated from government waste, SMC's Commercially Operated Lunar Transportation Service (COLTS) drastically reduced the cost of space flights to Earth's natural satellite compared to the days of Apollo.

With the first shipments of water lifting off from Shackleton Lunar Base, Wild Blue's future seems ever brighter as customers such as NAXA and the US military vie for the "white gold."

Payloads

28.5 deg: Flown out of Kennedy Space Center (KSC) to an altitude of 157.82 statute miles (254 km)

Polar: Flown out of Vandenberg Air Force Base to an altitude of 621.3 miles (1000 km) at a 94 degree inclination.

Costs

Appaloosa Core Stage: $25 million
Appaloosa Upper Stage: $15 million
Appaloosa Cryogenic Stage: $40 million
Composite Interstage: $5 million
Standard Payload Fairing (45 foot by 17 foot): $5 million
Stretched Payload Faring (70 foot by 17 foot): $8 million
Shuttle Payload Delivery Fairing (SPDF, 70 foot by 17 foot): $15 million

Appaloosa 111 "One Eleven"

Cost: $50 million ($1,250 / lb)
Payload (28.5 deg): 32,000 lbs w/o fly-back kit, 23,000 lbs w/ fly-back kit
Notes: The 111 freighter configuration has a disposable cargo container that can transport 7 tons of dry cargo, a ton of water, and 450 pounds of gasses (typically air for the space station). It can transport a ton of RCS propellant by sacrificing dry cargo mass.

First Stage

Length: 142.64 ft (43.48 m)
Diameter: 12.5 ft (3.81 m)
Engines: 4 Charger 1A
Thrust: 1,500,000 lbf (6,675,000 N)
Specific Impulse: 315 sec (sea level), 350 sec (vacuum)
Burn Time: 350 sec
Fuel: RP-1/LOX
Notes: The first stage is equipped with a fly-back kit. By adding a modified Conestoga-derived capsule to the first stage's nose, the fly-back booster can be used as a suborbital transport.

Second Stage

Length: 28.68 ft (8.74 m)
Diameter: 12.5 ft (3.81 m)
Engines: 1 Charger 1A
Thrust: 200,000 lbf (890,000 N)
Specific Impulse: 350 sec (vacuum)
Burn Time: 200 sec
Fuel: RP-1/LOX

Appaloosa 131

Cost: $100 million
Payload (28.5 deg): 120,000 lbs w/o Fly-Back Kit, 90,000 lbs w/ Fly-Back Kit
Payload (polar): 82,800 lbs
Notes: The twin side boosters cross-feed propellant to the central Core Booster, keeping it nearly full until the side boosters separate. After three test flights, an Appaloosa 131 successfully delivered Vigilance, the Core Module for Vigilance Air Force Station, to orbit in late 2002. Appaloosa 131s also launched "Meteor" bomber satellites as well as their "Bird Dog" fire control satellites into polar and equatorial orbits as part of the Strategic Defense Initiative. The Meteor is a space-launched guided munitions carrier that dispenses non-explosive telephone pole-sized tungsten rods that strike ground targets with the kinetic force of a tactical nuke.

First Stage

Length: 142.64 ft (43.48 m)
Diameter: 12.5 ft (3.81 m)
Engines: 4 Charger 1-A
Thrust: 1,500,000 lbf (6,675,000 N)
Specific Impulse: 315 sec (sea level), 350 sec (vacuum)
Burn Time: 210 sec
Fuel: RP-1/LOX

Second Stage

Length: 28.68 ft (8.74 m)
Diameter: 12.5 ft (3.81 m)
Engines: 1 Charger 1-A
Thrust: 200,000 lbf (890,000 N)
Specific Impulse: 350 sec (vacuum)
Burn Time: 200 sec
Fuel: RP-1/LOX