Special Issue "Laser Propulsion Science and Technology"

A special issue of Aerospace (ISSN 2226-4310). This special issue belongs to the section "Astronautics & Space Science".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 29 September 2023 | Viewed by 1629

Special Issue Editor

Department of Physics & Astronomy, St. Cloud State University, 720 4th Ave S., St. Cloud, MN 56301, USA
Interests: advanced propulsion; directed energy; laser ablation; laser-materials interactions; laser propulsion

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Laser propulsion is an emerging field that promises breakthroughs for various unique propulsion needs if the special challenges of using lasers to produce impulses can be overcome. Some examples of such challenges include beam divergence, coupling to remote targets, heat accumulation, the physics of short-pulse laser-material interaction, and, broadly, the fundamental physics governing laser-material interactions, which is still incompletely understood.

Laser technology has advanced significantly in the past decade, with novel high-power lasers and the development of the science of massive laser arrays, which may support fielded laser propulsion missions and applications. Some examples of such applications include interplanetary propulsion, interstellar propulsion, laser thrusters, laser tractor beams, and laser removal of orbital debris.

This Special Issue of Aerospace will cover recent experimental, theoretical, and computational work on the use of lasers to produce thrust or impulse, focusing on the fundamental science of laser propulsion and related space technology applications.

The editor of this Special Issue invites papers describing chemical, engineering, physics, or other practical issues of laser propulsion science and technology.

Dr. John Sinko
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Aerospace is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • beamed energy propulsion
  • debris removal
  • directed energy propulsion
  • laser ablation
  • laser arrays
  • laser debris removal
  • laser-electric propulsion
  • laser launch
  • laser momentum coupling
  • laser orbital debris removal
  • laser propellant
  • laser propulsion
  • laser sails
  • laser thermal coupling
  • laser thermal propulsion
  • laser thrusters
  • lightsails

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

Article
Hugoniot Relation for a Bow-Shaped Detonation Wave Generated in RP Laser Propulsion
Aerospace 2023, 10(2), 102; https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace10020102 - 19 Jan 2023
Viewed by 644
Abstract
Repetitive-pulsed (RP) laser propulsion is expected to replace chemical propulsion systems because it can reduce launch costs. A laser-supported detonation wave (LSD) plays an important role in the thrust-generation process of RP laser propulsion. The LSD propagation mechanism has been studied. Nevertheless, the [...] Read more.
Repetitive-pulsed (RP) laser propulsion is expected to replace chemical propulsion systems because it can reduce launch costs. A laser-supported detonation wave (LSD) plays an important role in the thrust-generation process of RP laser propulsion. The LSD propagation mechanism has been studied. Nevertheless, the LSD propagation velocity measured in an earlier study was lower than the Chapman–Jouguet (CJ) velocity, which meant that Hugoniot analysis produced no solution. The findings suggest that the radial flow from the central axis of LSD exerts some effects, but it has not been evaluated quantitatively. Two-dimensional axisymmetric computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis using the measured propagation velocity was performed for this study to evaluate effects of the radial flow of a bow-shaped LSD. Results show that the ratios of the radial flow of mass, momentum, and enthalpy from the central axis can be calculated, respectively, as 0.82, 0.13, and 0.17. Additionally, the measured propagation velocity of a bow-shaped LSD was shown to be higher than the CJ velocity calculated using the two-dimensional axisymmetric CFD reproducing the experiment conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Laser Propulsion Science and Technology)
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