News European small launch vehicle start-up news

[Urwumpe]

Is it known if the FTS operated?

Since the thrust was cut when the limits were exceeded, I would say yes.

 

[GLS]

Since the thrust was cut when the limits were exceeded, I would say yes.

I'd say no... the engines seemed to quit when the vehicle flipped over, which would have lowered the pressure at the engine inlets. The FTS would have sliced open the tanks to disperse the propellants... right?

 

[GLS]

Water bombing!

https://twitter.com/x/status/1906379072747282531

https://twitter.com/x/status/1906341521097400526

 

[cosmonaut2040]

I'd say no... the engines seemed to quit when the vehicle flipped over, which would have lowered the pressure at the engine inlets. The FTS would have sliced open the tanks to disperse the propellants... right?

From https://isaraerospace.com/newsroom-first-test-flight:

• CEO and Co-founder Daniel Metzler: “Our first test flight met all our expectations, achieving a great success. We had a clean liftoff, 30 seconds of flight and even got to validate our Flight Termination System. With this result, we feel confident to approach our second flight.”

Edit: also, someone on the NSF forum found a description of the rocket's FTS in a document from the spaceport impact assessment:

Another scenario is the so-called "Flight termination system" FTS. The rocket is terminated / the engine is "turned off" and comes down in one piece.

 

[Urwumpe]

I'd say no... the engines seemed to quit when the vehicle flipped over, which would have lowered the pressure at the engine inlets. The FTS would have sliced open the tanks to disperse the propellants... right?

Actually wrong. For the first seconds of flight (about 90 is common) the self destruction is disabled to reduce the damage to the launch site, instead the thrust is cut off to let it drop within the exclusion zone of the spaceport. Only later, the rocket is destroyed, again, for the same reason, but under different conditions.

Think about an air burst of a bomb there. At the right altitude, you maximize the damage and the damaged area. At higher altitude, the air burst causes less damage to the ground by the debris and energy having more room to expand.

But I don't know which FTS Isar Aerospace had to use for getting certified for Andoya. There are no European laws yet, much less German laws.

 

[RisingFury]

The successful first test flight from Norwegian soil...

The criteria for success is getting a bit odd...

 

[N_Molson]

So you can get a nice fireball when hitting water.

 

[Notebook]

Scott Manley on the ISAR test flight.

 

[K_Jameson]

The criteria for success is getting a bit odd...

Since the repeated explosions of Elon Musk's rockets, accompanied by almost hysterical enthusiasm, any launch that manages to clear the pad is now considered a "success"... It seems that we are moving in reverse.

 

[Urwumpe]

Since the repeated explosions of Elon Musk's rockets, accompanied by almost hysterical enthusiasm, any launch that manages to clear the pad is now considered a "success"... It seems that we are moving in reverse.

Well, considering that it was the first large rocket launch from European soil to leave the pad since the A-4 (or V-2), it might be really a success.

Yes, I think that it can be done better, but not in the current industry and environment. If there would be more standard parts around for example, the chance of failures would drop dramatically.

 

[K_Jameson]

Sure it was an useful launch in the sense that it provided a lot of data. It wasn't a disaster or something that must be derided. Absolutely.
Still, I would reserve the word "success" for something else.

 

[Buck Rogers]

I blame KSP!
I have a theory about the effects of fiction on human civilisation. Bladerunner (DoAndroidsDreamofElectricSheep) (and others) was/were a warning, but since it was filmed humanity seems to be so hot for for dystopia that it looks like a self fulfilling prophecy!

 

[Urwumpe]

Polaris Spaceplanes just raised 5.4 million Euro for the Aurora spaceplane, including preparation for commercial roll-out. Now its a total of 12.4 million Euro of investments. With an expendable upper stage, its supposed to transport 1000 kg to LEO.

 

[steph]

I'm not sure if ArcaSpace should even be on that list. I mean , yeah, technically they are a space company, but the polite way to describe them would be naive amateurs who never really did their homework, so their projects always fall well short of expectations, if they even get off the ground. Oh, and they have a tendency to block anyone who tries to tell them that the math isn't mathing on social media.

Their narrative (and excuses) have been getting weirder over time, so I really wonder if there's some sort of lunacy involved or they know full well what they're doing and they keep pretending to do space stuff in order to keep asking for funds, while discreetly omitting that most of their projects never went past mockup stage.

It’s just unfortunate that Europe doesn’t have a good East Coast for launches without worrying about downrange fallout over land.

I wonder if the eastern coast of Spain wouldn't be feasible for that, or maybe some of the Mediterranean islands. There is a ballistic firing range on the western Black Sea coast, but , as far as I know, there've been no commercial launches from there. Oh well, the benefits of living in civilised Europe. China launches them even from the rural areas

 

[Urwumpe]

I'm not sure if ArcaSpace should even be on that list. I mean , yeah, technically they are a space company, but the polite way to describe them would be naive amateurs who never really did their homework, so their projects always fall well short of expectations, if they even get off the ground. Oh, and they have a tendency to block anyone who tries to tell them that the math isn't mathing on social media.

Well, I included them for completeness and yes, because they are an eternal startup.

 

[Urwumpe]

Isar Aerospace has received a 150 Million Euro investment from Eldridge Industries, which means its net worth now exceeds one billion Euros and thus, are the first European spaceflight start-up to reach "Unicorn" status.

Isar Aerospace signs agreement with Eldridge Industries for EUR 150m financing - Isar Aerospace

By enabling access to space, we contribute to humanity’s progress and our planet’s sustainable technological and economic development. Select your journey to orbit and launch with us.

isaraerospace.com

 

[Urwumpe]

I have added The Exploration Company to the listing, a small startup planning to build Nyx, a reuseable spacecraft for space station service.

Home | The Exploration Company

We build accessible, sustainable, and cooperative space worlds.

www.exploration.space

 

[jedidia]

"Launcher Agnostic" sounds like something very desirable on paper, but also something that may be frought with a million little unforeseeable details that in the end it make one launcher so much preferable that you'd have been better off designing for it from the get-go...

 

[Urwumpe]

"Launcher Agnostic" sounds like something very desirable on paper, but also something that may be frought with a million little unforeseeable details that in the end it make one launcher so much preferable that you'd have been better off designing for it from the get-go...

Most satellites today are "launcher agnostic" which doesn't mean that they don't prefer certain launchers over others. They just can also use other launchers - with more or less penalties.

 

[Urwumpe]

More bad news from Europe: The founder and CEO of the Saxavord Spaceport, Frank Strang, steps back from his position after receiving a terminal cancer diagnosis.

Shetland space port founder diagnosed with terminal cancer

Frank Strang says he is determined to see his vision through to its first rocket launch later this year.

www.bbc.com