Lunar Mission Rocket Design

Overview

The report develops a complete Mission B architecture from requirements through propulsion and trajectory closure. The final mission budget is 4.076 km/s total Δv (3.107 km/s TLI, 0.819 km/s LOI, 0.150 km/s reserve), and the selected two-stage architecture reduces initial mass by 25.15% versus a single-stage option.

Technical work

• Compared single-stage and two-stage architectures (306.93 kg vs 229.75 kg initial mass in LEO) and selected two-stage as the mass-efficient configuration.
• Closed a refined mass budget: 161.55 kg total propellant, 18.20 kg total structure, and 229.75 kg initial mass for a 50 kg payload.
• Allocated stage performance at 3.107 km/s (Stage 1, LOX/RP-1) and 0.969 km/s (Stage 2, restartable NTO/MMH), with reported thrust levels of about 1620 N and 242 N.
• Ran translunar and LOI analysis using vis-viva / patched-conic methods; report results show ~0.278 km/s residual Δv (~63 s burn-time equivalent) after LOI.
• Performed propellant trade studies and CEA-backed engine/nozzle sizing, selecting pump-fed kerolox for TLI and pressure-fed hypergolic upper-stage propulsion for restart reliability.