OTRAG

OTRAG (German: Orbital Transport und Raketen AG, or Orbital Transport and
Rockets, Inc.), was a German company based in Stuttart, w!ic! planned in t!e late
"#$%s and early "#&%s to de'elop an alternati'e propulsion system (or rockets.
OTRAG was t!e (irst commercial de'eloper and producer o( space launc! 'e!icles.
T!e OTRAG Rocket claimed to present an ine)pensi'e alternati'e to e)istin launc!
systems t!rou! mass*production o( +ommon Rocket ,ropulsion -nits (+R,-).
History
OTRAG was (ounded in "#$. by t!e German aerospace enineer /ut0 1ayser. Its
oal was to de'elop, produce, and operate a radically di((erent, low cost, satellite
launc! 'e!icle.
T!e OTRAG rocket was intended to be an ine)pensi'e alternati'e to t!e 2uropean
rocket Ariane and t!e 3ASA space s!uttle.4"5 1ayser and a pri'ate consortium o( si)
!undred 2uropean in'estors (inanced t!e de'elopment and production o( t!e OTRAG
satellite launc! 'e!icle. 6r.In 1urt 7. 6ebus ser'ed as +!airman o( t!e 8oard o(
OTRAG a(ter !is retirement as director o( 3ASA9s 1ennedy Space +enter,4:5 and 6r.
;ern!er 'on 8raun ser'ed as scienti(ic ad'iser to 1ayser.
In t!e (ace o( doubts by 6ebus and 'on 8raun, 1ayser c!ose in "#$. to set up testin
and launc! (acilities in S!aba, <aire (now 1atana ,ro'ince in t!e 6emocratic
Republic o( t!e +ono). 6ebus and 'on 8raun were concerned about t!e possibility
o( <airian ac=uisition o( missile tec!noloy (rom t!e (acilities. 1ayser decided to
proceed despite t!eir opposition, and testin bean at t!e site in "#$$.
,olitical pressure to !alt t!e company9s operations mounted =uickly. >rance and t!e
So'iet -nion were !istorically opposed to German lon*distance rocket de'elopment,
and pressured t!e +onolese o'ernment into closin down t!e de'elopment (acility
in "#$#. Immediately a(terwards, ,residents Giscard d92stain o( >rance and /eonid
8re0!ne' o( t!e So'iet -nion con'inced t!e ;est German o'ernment to cancel t!e
OTRAG pro?ect and close down its German operations. In "#&%, OTRAG mo'ed its
production and testin (acilities to a desert site in /ibya. A series o( success(ul tests
were conducted at t!is site beinnin in "#&".4@5
Rocket design
OTRAG was a desin =uite di((erent (rom con'entional multi*stae rockets. T!e
OTRAG desin used parallel staes assembled (rom parallel tanktubes wit! (lat
bulk!eads. T!e rockets were desined to carry loads up to two tons, t!e t!en usual
wei!t o( a communications satellite, into a eostationary orbit. It was planned to
later increase t!e capacity to ten tons or more usin multiple identical modules.
T!e rocket was to consist o( indi'idual pipes, eac! :$ cm in diameter and si) meters
lon. >our o( t!ese pipes would be installed one abo'e t!e ot!er resultin in a :A
meter lon (uel and o)idi0er tank wit! a rocket enine at t!e lower end. T!e (uel was
intended to be kerosene wit! a .%B.% mi)ture o( nitric acid and dinitroen tetro)ide as
an o)idiser. Inition was pro'ided by a small =uantity o( (ur(uryl alco!ol in?ected
be(ore t!e (uel, w!ic! inites !yperolically (immediately and eneretically) upon
contact wit! t!e nitric acid. To simpli(y t!e desin, pumps were not used to mo'e t!e
(uel to t!e enines, instead t!e (uel tanks were only CCD (illed, wit! compressed air
in t!e remainin space to press propellants into t!e ablati'ely cooled combustion
c!amber. T!rust control is by partially closin t!e electromec!anical propellant
'al'es. ,itc! and yaw control can t!us be ac!ie'ed by di((erential t!rottlin. In
principle t!is is e)tremely reliable and c!eap in mass production.
T!e modular desin was intended to result in a lare cost reduction due to economies
o( scale. T!e +R,-*based satellite launc!in rocket was estimated to cost
appro)imately one tent! o( con'entional desins. Automated production processes
(or all components would reduce labor cost (rom &%D to :%D and remo'e t!e
?usti(ication (or reusability o( spent staes.
Controversies and future outlook
Only a (ew political contro'ersies are known concernin OTRAG because o(
concerns o( nei!bors o( <aire and /ibya about t!e dual use potential o( rockets. A
(ull orbital launc! 'e!icle was ne'er assembled. Eodules were (li!t tested in <aire
and /ibya. C,%%% static rocket enine tests and "C sinle stae =uali(ication tests were
made to pro'e t!e concept as (easible.
T!e German minister o( (orein a((airs at t!at time, 7ans 6ietric! Gensc!er, is said
to !a'e (inally stopped t!e pro?ect under pressure (rom >rance and t!e So'iet -nion,
and ;est Germany ?oined t!e co*(inanced F2uropean rocketF Ariane pro?ect, w!ic!
made t!e OTRAG pro?ect unnecessary and eliminated political entanlements o( a
still di'ided Germany in t!e early "#&%s.
3ASA +ommercial Orbital Transportation Ser'ices announcement stipulates a .%D
-S 3ational owners!ip in 'endor companies like 'on 8raun 6ebus 1ayser Rocket
Science //+, 62 (861RS). T!is would (orce 1ayser, a German citi0en, to sell at
least .%D o( !is s!ares to Americans.
Eore recently, t!e company !as been ad'isin Interorbital Systems, resultin in a
similar modular rocket desin (or t!eir 3eptune series.4A5
Go!n +armack, (ounder and lead enineer o( Armadillo Aerospace !as stated in !is
mont!ly reports and in (orum posts t!at !e e)pects !is pat! to an orbital 'e!icle to
include modular rockets similar to OTRAG tec!noloy. 1ayser, bein t!e (oundin
enineer o( OTRAG, 'isited Armadillo in Eay, :%%C and loaned +armack some o(
t!eir oriinal researc! !ardware.
FI !a'e been correspondin wit! /ut0 41ayser5 (or a (ew mont!s now, and I !a'e
learned =uite a (ew t!ins. I seriously considered an OTRAG style massi'e*cluster*
o(*c!eap*modules orbital desin back w!en we !ad #&D pero)ide (assumed to be a
biprop wit! kerosene), and I !a'e always considered it one o( t!e 'iable routes to
sini(icant reduction in orbital launc! costs. A(ter really oin o'er t!e trades and
details wit! /ut0, I am =uite con'inced t!at t!is is t!e lowest de'elopment cost route
to sini(icant orbital capability. 2'entually, reusable staes will take o'er, but I
actually t!ink t!at we can make it all t!e way to orbit on our current budet by
(ollowin t!is pat!. T!e indi'idual modules are less complicated t!an our current
'e!icles, and I am becomin more and more (ond o( !i! production met!ods o'er
!and cra(ter prototypes.F ** Gune :%%C Armadillo Aerospace -pdate4.5
External links
!ttp:BBwww.b"ACA@.deBSpacerocketsH"B;estH2uropeBOTRAGB6escriptionB>rame.!t
m
!ttp:BBwww.bernd*leitenberer.deBotra.s!tml 'ery e)planati'e article about t!e
OTRAG !istory (de)
!ttp:BBwww.astronauti).comBl'sBotra.!tm (en)