Isar Aerospace is closing in on two firsts, one is big for them, the other is big for all of Europe. The big one for the seven year old startup company is launching the first test flight of their Spectrum orbital launch vehicle. The really big one is they're on track to be the first orbital launch from Europe - as well as the first by a European company.
"We are almost ready for the test flight. All we need is the license," said Daniel Metzler, co-founder and CEO of Isar Aerospace. "By enabling space access from mainland Europe, we provide a critical resource for ensuring sovereignty and resilience."
Isar announced Friday (Feb. 21) that they had completed a 30 second static
test firing of the first stage of Spectrum. The nine-engine booster was
test-fired at Andøya Spaceport in Norway the previous Friday, Feb. 14.
The second stage had been static fired last year. With both stages passing
their tests, Isar says its launch verhicle is qualified for its first flight.
Aside from the normal preparations for a rocket launch—such as mating the two stages of the launcher together and integrating its payload fairing—the primary hurdle remaining for Isar is regulatory in nature. In a statement, Isar said the first flight of the Spectrum rocket will take place "as soon as possible" following approval and licensing from the Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority.
The Aviation Authority will establish the launch window and allowable times, as the FAA does for US launches.
A couple of years ago there was buzz about who was going to emerge as the winner in a race of small launch vehicles; those that can carry one ton to low Earth orbit. Isar Aerospace's Spectrum is a member of this class.
The fully assembled Spectrum rocket will stand about 92 feet (28 meters) tall and measure more than 6 feet (2 meters) in diameter. The expendable launcher is designed to haul payloads up to 1 metric ton (2,200 pounds) into low-Earth orbit. Spectrum is powered by nine Aquila engines on its first stage, and one engine on the second stage, burning a mixture of propane and liquid oxygen propellants.
Isar is headquartered near Munich, Germany, a central hub of European Space efforts. The company says it has raised more than 400 million euros (about $420 million), more than any other European launch startup. They build Spectrum in house, including all their Aquila engines.
"The flight will be the first integrated test of tens of thousands of components," said Josef Fleischmann, Isar's co-founder and chief technical officer. "Regardless of how far we get, this first test flight will hopefully generate an enormous amount of data and experience which we can apply to future missions."
...
The first flight of the Spectrum rocket will attempt to reach a polar orbit, flying north from Andøya Spaceport. Located at approximately 69 degrees north latitude, the spaceport is poised to become the world's northernmost orbital launch site.
Because it's an experimental mission, the test flight won't carry any customer payloads.
The nine-engine first stage for Isar Aerospace's Spectrum rocket lights up on the launch pad on February 14. Credit: Isar Aerospace
Should be almost a no-brainer to get into a polar orbit from that latitude.
ReplyDeleteGo get 'em, Isar! Best of luck on your first, may it reach orbit first try.
ReplyDeletePropane and LOX? Makes sense, propane is easy to store in liquid form, got me-self three hundred pound cylinders for the house, no need for venting at ambient temps, doesn't require a vacuum insulation flask. Because it is basically an ambient temp liquid fuel to start with, long as it is in a pressure container??? No need for complex liquid gas generation equipment like liquid methane. Its pretty dense stuff. Burns rather clean. Huge global industry exists for it. Sounds like they made a practical choice there.
ReplyDeleteBeen using propane for years instead of acetylene for my burning torches, way cheaper gas, requires more fuel to oxidizer verses acetylene, not as energy dense i guess. But it works just as well, got to use larger tips than you do with acetylene.
Thank you for the insights Anonymous. Interesting.
Delete"We are almost ready for the test flight. All we need is the license," uh huh. Some good European rocket scientists are going to be looking for another job soon. Hopefully we can import them.
ReplyDeleteThere is just something unworkable about governments. Time for people to run things, be rough at first, but nothing by any measure could be as worse or as worthless as than governments, its invention, an unmitigated disaster and economically bloodsucking ru away monster.
DeleteI think Donald Trump has been listening to you.
DeleteWhere are they launching from? I’ve seen some articles that say they’re launching from Norway and others from Guyana.
ReplyDeleteThe article I referenced said Norway. That was part of why it's such a big deal to them: a European orbital rocket launching from Europe.
DeleteGerman rocket scientists, eh? We'll see if this generation is as good as the ones we had.
ReplyDelete