TOLL ROADS TO THE MOON LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Using long and lazy orbits to reach the
moon may take more time, but could hasten the day of building a lunar base.Special-purpose space routes are the brainchild of Edward Belbruno. He is founder and president of Innovative Orbital Design, Inc., a Princeton, New Jersey-based company started in 1997.
Belbruno tags them "weak-stability-boundary" transfer orbits. These
orbits yield new twists and turns for pushing satellites not only into Earth's orbit, but outward to the moon -- and beyond. These specialized orbits are up for patent. High math
Today, moving
spacecraft effectively and efficiently from point to point relies largely on the high math of such historic notables as Sir Isaac Newton and Johannes Kepler. But now, Belbruno and his company offer a range of novel ways to greatly decrease space-mission costs. Advances in the mathematics of space travel and software smarts permits a payload to be finessed through space. Using sets of precise thruster firings, the gravitational perturbations of Earth, the moon and sun, a spacecraft needs to spurt out far less fuel using Belbruno's orbits.
"A 20-percent to 50-percent fuel-savings can be realized," Belbruno said, "contrasted to conventional methods of nudging a satellite from orbit to orbit, or in positioning a spacecraft."
Less gas-guzzling spacecraft means lower
satellite mass at launch and longer-lived spacecraft. It also opens up new launch site and cheaper booster options, Belbruno told SPACE.com. Put to the test
In 1991, the orbit-transfer idea was put to the test. Japan's
Hiten science satellite had initially been placed into a long, looping Earth orbit. There was far too little spacecraft propellant on board that could be tapped to reach the moon using conventional techniques. 
"It is human nature to consider the concept of a toll road. All the things we routinely pay for on the ground will probably have equivalent analogs in space and on the moon."
Belbruno helped plot a newly discovered weak-stability-boundary transfer orbit. The Hiten satellite was successfully moved into lunar orbit.
Yet another transfer orbit via the moon took place in 1998.
Whip it good
Hughes Space and Communications Company used looping around the moon to reposition a stranded telecommunications satellite.
In May, and again in June 1998, the Hughes spacecraft was sent on lunar swingbys that altered the satellite's unusable orbit to one that was commercially marketable. It now is parked in geosynchronous orbit over the Pacific Ocean.
At the time, Hughes called the salvage "the first commercial flight to the moon."
The company is now looking into future lunar gravity assists as a way to transfer payloads to Earth-centered orbits.
Moreover, industry sources suggest Hughes is open to dropping off piggyback payloads into lunar orbit or onto the moon itself as its satellites whip by the moon.
Patents pending
Belbruno said that fuel-saving and payload-enhancing orbits around the moon have a great future. And a profitable one at that.
For one, the specialized orbits could be a great boon to lunar-base construction. Using the long lunar route, a pipeline of materials and supplies could be created to make a moon base a practical reality.
"It has been done. It's been proven to work. It is pure, straight mathematics. There's no black magic to this, said James Fiedler, chief executive officer of Galaxy Development, LLC in Los Angeles, California.
Galaxy Development owns Belbruno's Innovative Orbital Design. How best to reposition satellites using the moon, as well as applying weak-stability-boundary orbital technology, is in the patent pending stage, said Fiedler in a recent phone interview.
Efforts are now focused on getting the business launched and marketing the money-saving special orbits to all takers, Fiedler said. "Our message is that we're trying to help people do their job better. We've got something here that can save you money," he said.
Taking a toll?
Considering the many hundreds of satellites to be lofted over the next few years, using the company's proprietary technology could yield billions of dollars in mission savings, Belbruno said.
But is patenting an orbit, then charging for its use tantamount to creating toll roads in space?
"That's not really accurate. This is a bit different," Belbruno said. "To a critic, I would respond that the term 'toll road' is too limiting," he said.
"It is human nature to consider the concept of a toll road. All the things we routinely pay for on the ground will probably have equivalent analogues in space and on the moon," Belbruno said.
Still, isn't a pay-before-you-fly route to the moon akin to a toll road?
"What's the toll road if I save you money in launch costs," said Fiedler. "It's not a toll road...it's an easy pass."
advertisement
