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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2022

Valuation of Hydrogen Technology on the Electric Grid Using Production Cost Modeling: Cooperative Research and Development Final Report, CRADA Number CRD-18-00736

This research project will estimate the value to the United States electric grid of deploying hydrogen technology (such as electrolyzers and hydrogen-fueled generation) under projected conditions of high renewable penetration. The analysis will advance the state of the art in systems-level cost-benefit analysis of hydrogen technology for the electric grid by incorporating production cost modeling results in the analysis. Large-scale grid simulation tools will be used to evaluate total system production cost and grid operation when hydrogen technology is deployed for applications such as energy storage and demand response. Scenarios will include one or more future grid mixes in the Western Interconnect (WI) with a high proportion of intermittent renewables. Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) will work with four utility companies to refine scenarios. Results of the analysis will include comparing the net cost of hydrogen to other technologies for long duration storage, and of power-to-gas (P2G) scenarios including merchant hydrogen sale and hydrogen-fueled generation.

08 HYDROGEN↗
NASA NTRS2021

Financial feasibility of water conservation in agriculture

Global water use for food production needs to be reduced to remain within planetary boundaries, yet the financial feasibility of crucial measures to reduce water use is poorly quantified. Here, we introduce a novel method to compare the costs of water conservation measures with the added value that reallocation of water savings might generate if used for expansion of irrigation. Based on detailed water accounting through the use of a high-resolution hydrology-crop model, we modify the traditional cost curve approach with an improved estimation of demand, increasing marginal cost per water conservation measure combination and add a correction to control for impacts on downstream water availability. We apply the method to three major river basins in the Indo-Gangetic plain (Indus, Ganges and Brahmaputra), a major global food producing region but increasingly water stressed. Our analysis shows that at basin level only about 10% (Brahmaputra) to just over 20% (Indus and Ganges) of potential water savings would be realised; the equilibrium price for water is too low to make the majority of water conservation measures cost effective. The associated expansion of irrigated area is moderate, about 7% in the Indus basin, 5% in the Ganges and negligible in the Brahmaputra, but farmers' gross profit increases more substantially, by 11%. Increasing the volumetric cost of irrigation water influences supply and demand in a similar way and has little influence on water reallocation. Controlling for the impact on return flows is important and more than halves the amount of water available for reallocation.

Geography / Land Utilization↗
DOE OSTI2026

Techno-Economic Evaluation of Electrified Vehicle Options in Drayage Fleets

The electrification of drayage fleets offers potential economic and operational benefits, but the financial viability of electrified vehicles remains sensitive to battery cost, energy price, and fleet usage patterns. While total cost of ownership (TCO) is a useful benchmark, fleet operators and investors are equally concerned with investment performance metrics such as payback period (PB) and Internal Rate of Return (IRR), which better reflect financial risks and investment return timelines. This study develops a unified techno-economic framework that jointly evaluates TCO, PB, and IRR to determine when electrified trucks become cost-effective alternatives to diesel trucks. Building on a previously developed cost modeling tool and using real-world telematics data from a Class 8 drayage fleet at the Port of Savannah, the analysis incorporates projected battery cost trajectories, electricity and diesel price trends, vehicle efficiency improvements, and multiple battery capacities. Parameter ranges reflect widely cited projections and observed drayage-duty-cycle variability. A surrogate-modeling method approximates economic performance across thousands of battery cost–electricity price combinations, enabling high-resolution identification of conditions that achieve TCO parity, acceptable PB thresholds, and target IRR levels. Additionally, the study estimates the evolving share of the fleet that can feasibly electrify over time under multiple economic metrics. This integrated framework offers a novel, data-driven approach to inform risk-aware decision-making for fleet electrification and supports investment planning under evolving cost and operational conditions.

Sun, Ruixiao [ORNL] (ORCID:0000000341768676)↗
DOE OSTI2021

Dual-solver hybrid computational approaches for design and analysis of vertical lift vehicles

Abstract The cost of Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes simulations can be restrictive to implement in aeromechanics design and analysis of vertical lift configurations given the cost to resolve the flow on a mesh sufficient to provide accurate aerodynamic and structural loads. Dual-solver hybrid methods have been developed that resolve the configuration and the near field with the Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes solvers, while the wake is resolved with vorticity-preserving methods that are more cost-effective. These dual-solver approaches can be integrated into an organisation’s workflow to bridge the gap between lower-fidelity methods and the expensive Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes when there are complex physics present. This paper provides an overview of different dual-solver hybrid methods, coupling approaches, and future efforts to expand their capabilities in the areas of novel configurations and operations in constrained and turbulent environments.

Engineering↗
DOE OSTI2024

Consumer Benefits of Clean Energy: Energy Efficiency

Meeting national and state decarbonization goals requires a transition to clean energy technologies. Energy efficiency, demand flexibility, renewable energy and storage can reduce consumers’ electricity bills, lower total electricity system costs, and provide health and resilience benefits. Berkeley Lab developed a series of briefs that explore these consumer benefits of a clean energy transition. This brief focuses on energy efficiency benefits, and builds on prior analysis from Berkeley Lab’s Cost of Saved Energy database. We show that energy efficiency remains a low-cost energy and capacity resource; the levelized cost of saving energy for the programs included in the analysis is $\$0.02$/kilowatt-hour and the cost of saving peak demand is less $\$120$/kilowatt. Understanding the impact of the program mix, portfolio size, and duration of implementation for customer-funded energy efficiency portfolios can guide regulatory oversight of these programs, help utilities better utilize energy efficiency as a resource, and inform building energy decarbonization policies.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
NASA NTRS1980

Solar cells and modules from dentritic web silicon

Some of the noteworthy features of the processes developed in the fabrication of solar cell modules are the handling of long lengths of web, the use of cost effective dip coating of photoresist and antireflection coatings, selective electroplating of the grid pattern and ultrasonic bonding of the cell interconnect. Data on the cells is obtained by means of dark I-V analysis and deep level transient spectroscopy. A histogram of over 100 dentritic web solar cells fabricated in a number of runs using different web crystals shows an average efficiency of over 13%, with some efficiencies running above 15%. Lower cell efficiency is generally associated with low minority carrier time due to recombination centers sometimes present in the bulk silicon. A cost analysis of the process sequence using a 25 MW production line indicates a selling price of $0.75/peak watt in 1986. It is concluded that the efficiency of dentritic web cells approaches that of float zone silicon cells, reduced somewhat by the lower bulk lifetime of the former.

Campbell, R. B.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Techno-Economic Analysis of Reversible and Paired Solid Oxide Cell Systems for Hydrogen Production

This is the Journal of the Electrochemical Society manuscript that details an NETL analysis on comparing the performance and cost of reversible solid oxide cell (SOC) units versus paired fuel cell (SOFC) and electrolysis cell (SOEC) units. The analysis compares tradeoffs such as capital costs versus rate of performance degradation, sensitivity to natural gas prices, sensitivity to imported power costs, and other relevant analyses. The systems include a high rate (98%) of carbon capture. The analysis shows that given a certain cost of electricity input, either approach could be viable in the market and points to the need to incorporate into a full system to understand impacts.

Noring, Alex↗
DOE OSTI2021

Comprehensive Total Cost of Ownership Quantification for Vehicles with Different Size Classes and Powertrains

In order to accurately compare the costs of two vehicles, the total cost of ownership (TCO) should consist of all costs related to both purchasing and operating the vehicle. This TCO analysis builds on previous work to provide a comprehensive perspective of all relevant vehicle costs of ownership. In this report, we present what we believe to be the most comprehensive explicit financial analysis of the costs that will be incurred by a vehicle owner. This study considers vehicle cost and depreciation, financing, fuel costs, insurance costs, maintenance and repair costs, taxes and fees, and other operational costs to formulate a holistic total cost of ownership and operation of multiple different vehicles. For each of these cost parameters that together constitute a comprehensive TCO, extensive literature review and data analysis were performed to find representative values in order to build a holistic TCO for vehicles of all size classes. The light- and heavy-duty vehicles selected for analysis in this report are representative of those that are on the road today and expected to be available in the future. Important additive analyses in this study include systematic analysis of vehicle depreciation, in-depth examination of insurance premium costs, comprehensive maintenance and repair estimates, analysis of all relevant taxes and fees, and considerations of specific costs applicable to commercial vehicles. We find that cars depreciate faster than light trucks and that older plug-in electric vehicles have a greater depreciation rate than newer electric vehicles. Light-duty vehicle (LDV) insurance costs show comparable costs for different powertrains, and lower costs for larger size classes. Medium- and heavy-duty vehicle (MHDV) insurance costs vary significantly by vocation. Electric and electrified powertrains have lower maintenance and repair costs than internal combustion engine (ICE) powertrains for all vehicle sizes, relative to vehicle price. MHDV maintenance and repair costs depend heavily on vocation and duty cycle. LDV taxes and fees are comparable across powertrain types and size classes, though marginally higher registration fees exist for alternative fuel vehicles. MHDV fees depend on the vocation, weight rating, and state. Many electric tractor trailers would be affected by additional battery weight, reducing the available payload capacity, and this cost can be substantial. Electric vehicle charging for commercial vehicles can be time-consuming; labor rates can cause this cost to dominate TCO. With improved knowledge of each of the cost components, we calculate a lifetime TCO for comparison across vehicles of different types and attributes. For a simulated small sport utility vehicle in 2025, modeled using Autonomie, the hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) has the lowest cost, followed by the conventional ICE vehicle. For MHDV, TCO can be drastically different depending on the vocation. Long-haul vehicles typically have the lowest per-mile costs. Excluding labor costs, the class 4 delivery has a comparable TCO to the day cab. Vocational trucks, refuse trucks, and transit buses have a high per-mile cost of ownership due to maintenance and insurance. For all of these vehicles, the cost of operating the vehicle is heavily weighted by the labor of the driver, followed by the fuel costs. While the HEV begins as the lowest cost powertrain for passenger vehicles, fuel cells are forecast to reach cost parity by 2030 when hydrogen prices reach $\$ 5$/kg while battery electric vehicles (BEV) reach cost parity by 2035 at a battery cost of $\$ 98$ per usable kWh of capacity, with these two technologies being the lowest cost in 2050. For the class 8 day cab tractor, the HEV and ICE vehicle begin as the lowest cost powertrains, and the 250-mile BEV reduces in cost from the most expensive to the least expensive by 2030.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Exploring Future Storage Options for ATLAS at the BNL/SDCC facility

The ATLAS experiment is expected to deliver an unprecedented amount of scientific data in the High Luminosity(HL-LHC) era. As the demand for disk storage capacity in ATLAS continues to rise steadily, the BNL Scientific Data and Computing Center (SDCC) faces challenges in terms of cost implications for maintaining multiple disk copies and adapting to the coming ATLAS storage requirements. To address these challenges, the SDCC Storage team has undertaken a thorough analysis of the ATLAS experiment's requirements, matching them to suitable storage options and strategies, and has explored alternatives to enhance or replace the current storage solution. This paper aims to present the main challenges encountered while supporting big data experiments such as ATLAS. We describe the experiment's specific requirements and priorities, particularly focusing on the critical storage system characteristics of the high-luminosity run and how the key storage components provided by the Storage team work together: the dCache disk storage system; its archival back-end, HPSS; and its OS-level backend Storage. Specifically, we investigate a novel approach to integrate Lustre and XRootD. In this setup, Lustre serves as backend storage and XRootD acts as an access layer frontend, supporting various grid access protocols. Additionally, we also describe the validation and commissioning tests, including the performance comparison between dCache and XRootd. Furthermore, we provide a performance and cost analysis comparing OpenZFS and LINUX MD RAID, evaluate different storage software stacks, and showcase stress tests conducted to validate Third Party Copy (TPC) functionality.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Carbon Dioxide-Free Hydrogen and Solid Carbon from Natural Gas via Metal Salt Intermediates

Production of hydrogen with low emissions and low energy input is critical for the clean energy transition, enabling all sectors of the economy to decarbonize – from electricity generation to residential heating to industrial power. In this program, Johns Hopkins University in partnership with ETCH, INC translated a novel laboratory-scale chemistry to decompose methane to hydrogen and solid carbon into a pre-commercial system. Central to the process is a closed-loop thermocatalytic redox cycle without water consumption or carbon dioxide generation that can be implemented with low capital and operating costs. Techno-economic and lifecycle analysis suggests this approach will produce the lowest cost and lowest-emissions route to hydrogen production.

03 NATURAL GAS↗
NASA NTRS1993

GRYPHON: Air launched space booster

The project chosen for the winter semester Aero 483 class was the design of a next generation Air Launched Space Booster. Based on Orbital Sciences Corporation's Pegasus concept, the goal of Aero 483 was to design a 500,000 pound air launched space booster capable of delivering 17,000 pounds of payload to Low Earth Orbit and 8,000 pounds of payload to Geosynchronous Earth Orbit. The resulting launch vehicle was named the Gryphon. The class of forty senior aerospace engineering students was broken down into eight interdependent groups. Each group was assigned a subsystem or responsibility which then became their field of specialization. Spacecraft Integration was responsible for ensuring compatibility between subsystems. This group kept up to date on subsystem redesigns and informed those parties affected by the changes, monitored the vehicle's overall weight and dimensions, and calculated the mass properties of the booster. This group also performed the cost/profitability analysis of the Gryphon and obtained cost data for competing launch systems. The Mission Analysis Group was assigned the task of determining proper orbits, calculating the vehicle's flight trajectory for those orbits, and determining the aerodynamic characteristics of the vehicle. The Propulsion Group chose the engines that were best suited to the mission. This group also set the staging configurations for those engines and designed the tanks and fuel feed system. The commercial satellite market, dimensions and weights of typical satellites, and method of deploying satellites was determined by the Payloads Group. In addition, Payloads identified possible resupply packages for Space Station Freedom and identified those packages that were compatible with the Gryphon. The guidance, navigation, and control subsystems were designed by the Mission Control Group. This group identified required tracking hardware, communications hardware telemetry systems, and ground sites for the location of the Gryphon's mission control center. The Structures group was responsible for ensuring the structural integrity of the vehicle. Their designs included the payload shroud, payload support structure, exterior hull and engine support struts. The Gryphon's power requirements were determined by the Power/Thermal/Attitude Control Group. This group then selected suitable batteries and other components to meet these requirements. The group also designed heat shielding and cooling systems to ensure subsystem performance. In addition to these responsibilities this group designed the attitude control methods and RCS components for the vehicle. The Aircraft Integration Group was responsible for all aspects of the booster aircraft connection. This included the design of the connection structure and the drop mechanism. This group also designed the vehicle assembly facility and identified possible ground bases for the plane.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2001

A Two-Dimensional Variational Analysis Method for NSCAT Ambiguity Removal: Methodology, Sensitivity, and Tuning

In this study, we apply a two-dimensional variational analysis method (2d-VAR) to select a wind solution from NASA Scatterometer (NSCAT) ambiguous winds. 2d-VAR determines a "best" gridded surface wind analysis by minimizing a cost function. The cost function measures the misfit to the observations, the background, and the filtering and dynamical constraints. The ambiguity closest in direction to the minimizing analysis is selected. 2d-VAR method, sensitivity and numerical behavior are described. 2d-VAR is compared to statistical interpolation (OI) by examining the response of both systems to a single ship observation and to a swath of unique scatterometer winds. 2d-VAR is used with both NSCAT ambiguities and NSCAT backscatter values. Results are roughly comparable. When the background field is poor, 2d-VAR ambiguity removal often selects low probability ambiguities. To avoid this behavior, an initial 2d-VAR analysis, using only the two most likely ambiguities, provides the first guess for an analysis using all the ambiguities or the backscatter data. 2d-VAR and median filter selected ambiguities usually agree. Both methods require horizontal consistency, so disagreements occur in clumps, or as linear features. In these cases, 2d-VAR ambiguities are often more meteorologically reasonable and more consistent with satellite imagery.

Hoffman, R. N.↗
NASA NTRS2006

Model-Based Safety Analysis

System safety analysis techniques are well established and are used extensively during the design of safety-critical systems. Despite this, most of the techniques are highly subjective and dependent on the skill of the practitioner. Since these analyses are usually based on an informal system model, it is unlikely that they will be complete, consistent, and error free. In fact, the lack of precise models of the system architecture and its failure modes often forces the safety analysts to devote much of their effort to gathering architectural details about the system behavior from several sources and embedding this information in the safety artifacts such as the fault trees. This report describes Model-Based Safety Analysis, an approach in which the system and safety engineers share a common system model created using a model-based development process. By extending the system model with a fault model as well as relevant portions of the physical system to be controlled, automated support can be provided for much of the safety analysis. We believe that by using a common model for both system and safety engineering and automating parts of the safety analysis, we can both reduce the cost and improve the quality of the safety analysis. Here we present our vision of model-based safety analysis and discuss the advantages and challenges in making this approach practical.

Joshi, Anjali↗
NASA NTRS2009

Computing Bounds on Resource Levels for Flexible Plans

A new algorithm efficiently computes the tightest exact bound on the levels of resources induced by a flexible activity plan (see figure). Tightness of bounds is extremely important for computations involved in planning because tight bounds can save potentially exponential amounts of search (through early backtracking and detection of solutions), relative to looser bounds. The bound computed by the new algorithm, denoted the resource-level envelope, constitutes the measure of maximum and minimum consumption of resources at any time for all fixed-time schedules in the flexible plan. At each time, the envelope guarantees that there are two fixed-time instantiations one that produces the minimum level and one that produces the maximum level. Therefore, the resource-level envelope is the tightest possible resource-level bound for a flexible plan because any tighter bound would exclude the contribution of at least one fixed-time schedule. If the resource- level envelope can be computed efficiently, one could substitute looser bounds that are currently used in the inner cores of constraint-posting scheduling algorithms, with the potential for great improvements in performance. What is needed to reduce the cost of computation is an algorithm, the measure of complexity of which is no greater than a low-degree polynomial in N (where N is the number of activities). The new algorithm satisfies this need. In this algorithm, the computation of resource-level envelopes is based on a novel combination of (1) the theory of shortest paths in the temporal-constraint network for the flexible plan and (2) the theory of maximum flows for a flow network derived from the temporal and resource constraints. The measure of asymptotic complexity of the algorithm is O(N O(maxflow(N)), where O(x) denotes an amount of computing time or a number of arithmetic operations proportional to a number of the order of x and O(maxflow(N)) is the measure of complexity (and thus of cost) of a maximumflow algorithm applied to an auxiliary flow network of 2N nodes. The algorithm is believed to be efficient in practice; experimental analysis shows the practical cost of maxflow to be as low as O(N1.5). The algorithm could be enhanced following at least two approaches. In the first approach, incremental subalgorithms for the computation of the envelope could be developed. By use of temporal scanning of the events in the temporal network, it may be possible to significantly reduce the size of the networks on which it is necessary to run the maximum-flow subalgorithm, thereby significantly reducing the time required for envelope calculation. In the second approach, the practical effectiveness of resource envelopes in the inner loops of search algorithms could be tested for multi-capacity resource scheduling. This testing would include inner-loop backtracking and termination tests and variable and value-ordering heuristics that exploit the properties of resource envelopes more directly.

Muscvettola, Nicola↗
NASA NTRS2009

Status and Mission Applicability of NASA's In-Space Propulsion Technology Project

The In-Space Propulsion Technology (ISPT) project develops propulsion technologies that will enable or enhance NASA robotic science missions. Since 2001, the ISPT project developed and delivered products to assist technology infusion and quantify mission applicability and benefits through mission analysis and tools. These in-space propulsion technologies are applicable, and potentially enabling for flagship destinations currently under evaluation, as well as having broad applicability to future Discovery and New Frontiers mission solicitations. This paper provides status of the technology development, near-term mission benefits, applicability, and availability of in-space propulsion technologies in the areas of advanced chemical thrusters, electric propulsion, aerocapture, and systems analysis tools. The current chemical propulsion investment is on the high-temperature Advanced Material Bipropellant Rocket (AMBR) engine providing higher performance for lower cost. Investments in electric propulsion technologies focused on completing NASA's Evolutionary Xenon Thruster (NEXT) ion propulsion system, a 0.6-7 kW throttle-able gridded ion system, and the High Voltage Hall Accelerator (HiVHAC) thruster, which is a mid-term product specifically designed for a low-cost electric propulsion option. Aerocapture investments developed a family of thermal protections system materials and structures; guidance, navigation, and control models of blunt-body rigid aeroshells; atmospheric models for Earth, Titan, Mars and Venus; and models for aerothermal effects. In 2009 ISPT started the development of propulsion technologies that would enable future sample return missions. The paper describes the ISPT project's future focus on propulsion for sample return missions. The future technology development areas for ISPT is: Planetary Ascent Vehicles (PAV), with a Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) being the initial development focus; multi-mission technologies for Earth Entry Vehicles (MMEEV) needed for sample return missions from many different destinations; propulsion for Earth Return Vehicles (ERV), transfer stages to the destination, and Electric Propulsion for sample return and low cost missions; and Systems/Mission Analysis focused on sample return propulsion. The ISPT project is funded by NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD).

Anderson, David J.↗
NASA NTRS2005

CoMET: Cost and Mass Evaluation Tool for Spacecraft and Mission Design

New technology in space exploration is often developed without a complete knowledge of its impact. While the immediate benefits of a new technology are obvious, it is harder to understand its indirect consequences, which ripple through the entire system. COMET is a technology evaluation tool designed to illuminate how specific technology choices affect a mission at each system level. COMET uses simplified models for mass, power, and cost to analyze performance parameters of technologies of interest. The sensitivity analysis that CoMET provides shows whether developing a certain technology will greatly benefit the project or not. CoMET is an ongoing project approaching a web-based implementation phase. This year, development focused on the models for planetary daughter craft, such as atmospheric probes, blimps and balloons, and landers. These models are developed through research into historical data, well established rules of thumb, and engineering judgment of experts at JPL. The model is validated by corroboration with JpL advanced mission studies. Other enhancements to COMET include adding launch vehicle analysis and integrating an updated cost model. When completed, COMET will allow technological development to be focused on areas that will most drastically improve spacecraft performance.

Bieber, Ben S.↗
NASA NTRS2017

Conceptual Feasibility Study of the Hyperloop Vehicle for Next-Generation Transport

The Hyperloop concept is proposed as a faster, cheaper alternative to high-speed rail and traditional short-haul aircraft. It consists of a passenger pod traveling through a tube under light vacuum while being propelled and levitated by a combination of permanent and electro-magnets. The concept addresses NASA's research thrusts for growth in demand, sustainability, and technology convergence for high-speed transport. Hyperloop is a radical departure from other advanced aviation concepts, however it remains an aeronautics concept that tackles the same strategic goals of low-carbon propulsion and ultra-effcient vehicles. System feasibility was investigated by building a multidisciplinary vehicle sizing model that takes into account aerodynamic, thermodynamic, structures, electromagnetic, weight, and mission analyses. The sizing process emphasized the strong coupling between the two largest systems: the tube and the passenger pod. The model was then exercised to examine Hyperloop from a technical and cost perspective. The structural sizing analysis of the travel tube demonstrates potential for signi cant capital cost reductions by considering an underwater route. Examination of varying passenger capacity indicates that the system can be operated with a wide range of passenger loads without significant change in operating expenses. Lastly, a high-level sizing study simulated variations in tube area, pressure, pod speed, and passenger capacity showing that there is a tube pressure that minimizes operating energy usage. The value of this optimal tube pressure is highly sensitive to numerous design details. These combined estimates of energy consumption, passenger throughput, and mission analyses all support Hyperloop as a faster and cheaper alternative to short-haul flights. The tools and expertise used to quantify these results also demonstrate how traditional aerospace design methods can be leveraged to handle the complex and coupled design process. Much of the technology development required for the Hyperloop is shared with next-generation aircraft. Furthermore, the substantial public interest and active commercial development make it an ideal candidate as an aircraft technology driver and test bed.

Hyperloop Vehicle↗
NASA NTRS1995

Advanced Transportation System Studies Technical Area 2 (TA-2) Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle Development Contract: Technical Results - Volume 2

The purpose of the Advanced Transportation System Studies (ATSS) Technical Area 2 (TA-2) Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle Development contract was to provide advanced launch vehicle concept definition and analysis to assist NASA in the identification of future launch vehicle requirements. Contracted analysis activities included vehicle sizing and performance analysis, subsystem concept definition, propulsion subsystem definition (foreign and domestic), ground operations and facilities analysis, and life cycle cost estimation. This document is Volume 2 of the final report for the contract. It provides documentation of selected technical results from various TA-2 analysis activities, including a detailed narrative description of the SSTO concept assessment results, a user's guide for the associated SSTO sizing tools, an SSTO turnaround assessment report, an executive summary of the ground operations assessments performed during the first year of the contract, a configuration-independent vehicle health management system requirements report, a copy of all major TA-2 contract presentations, a copy of the FLO launch vehicle final report, and references to Pratt & Whitney's TA-2 sponsored final reports regarding the identification of Russian main propulsion technologies.

Source record↗