Orbital Maneuvering Vehicle (OMV) missions applications and systems requirements

The routine delivery of large payloads to low earth orbit has become a reality with the Space Transportation System (STS). However, once earth orbit has been achieved, orbit transfer operations represent an inefficient use of the Space Shuttle. The Orbital Maneuvering Vehicle (OMV) will add a new and needed dimension to STS capabilities. Utilized in a reusable manner, the OMV is needed to deliver and retrieve satellites to and from orbital altitudes or inclinations beyond the practical limits of the Space Shuttle and to support basic Space Station activities. The initial OMV must also be designed to permit the addition of future mission kits to support the servicing, module changeout, or refueling of satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO), and the retrieval and deorbit of space debris. This paper addresses the mission needs along with the resulting performance implications, design requirements and operational capabilities imposed on the OMV planned for use in the late 1980s.