UCF, Space Force team up to rocket supplies into disaster zones
Imagine a hurricane had just rampaged through your hometown. The streets are flooded, power lines are down and resources are running thin. Instead of waiting for help for two to three days, a rocket filled with essential supplies will launch from halfway across the world and land within an hour.
The U.S. Space Force wants to help when disasters like Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria strike. Its goal is to build a rocket filled with food, water and other aid and send it to areas in need within 60 minutes.
With the help of three UCF researchers, the agency is seeking to accomplish this project within the next decade.
Assistant professors in UCF’s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Michael Kinzel and Tarek Elgohary, along with Luis Rabelo, a professor in UCF’s Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Systems, have become the first UCF researchers to receive funding from the Space Force, after being awarded a $350,000 grant for the project.
UCF is one of seven universities to get funding from the Space Force’s University Consortium Research Opportunity, which is to establish a connection between universities and Department of Defense space science and technology projects.
“This is a very radical departure from something we call human logistics, when there are critical issues,” Rabelo said. “There are some people on top of buildings not knowing what to do and we have to go through certain bureaucratic processes. This can be radical!”
Now, needed supplies in a disaster are typically delivered by helicopters, planes or trucks, Elgohary said. Kinzel said the goal of the rocket is to not replace those options, but rather to provide an expedited option for extreme conditions.
“The UCF effort is coming in and going, ‘if you can get it in there within an hour what are all the other bottlenecks gonna be?’ ” Kinzel said.
The project falls under the purview of the U.S. Air Force’s
Vanguard program to determine and develop the viability of using large commercial rockets for Department of Defense global logistics, Kinzel said. The rockets would be deployed for disaster relief, shipping tons of medical and military supplies, food and even blood donations.
With the grant money, the UCF researchers are given two years to work on this project.
Each of the researchers will tackle different aspects of the plan. Kinzel will be ensuring the safety of the cargo by using numerical analysis and aerodynamics. Elgohary’s role would be related to orbital mechanics and astrodynamics to make certain that the rocket will land precisely.
Rabelo will be using simulation technology to identify any potential problems in the process.
Kinzel said there are a lot of factors to consider when designing this project especially since the rocket will be landing via parachute instead of runways or on landing pads. The goal, he said, is to not only shorten the process from three days to one hour but to also get the supplies within 100 yards from the targeted site.
UCF students will be given the opportunity to be a part of this research. Graduate and undergraduate students will be participating next fall. Graduate students will be taking the lead in modeling the rocket and the dynamics of its delivery.
Rabelo said that the students will be individuals with a good GPA, have knowledge in either industrial engineering or systems engineering and are attending their capstone course.
The students will assist in making hypothetical rocket designs in their capstone course, but the core of UCF’s research will be in cargo delivery. Currently there is no blueprint or prototype of a rocket, Kinzel, adding that he thinks SpaceX will build it. The Elon Musk-led company won a $102 million, five-year contract for the rocket cargo program.
Though plans on how group participation are still being worked on, Elgohary said that they are working
with senior design coordinators and will be meeting monthly to see how the project is moving along.
“I really enjoyed the fact that there is now a huge interest in space from the federal government, with the formation of Space Force,” Elgohary said. “I’ve been doing space research all my career, so it’s definitely an exciting time.”