Engineers have recognized a “very unusual” oxygen hearth in a turbopump as the explanation a rocket engine exploded throughout a take a look at on the spaceport in Shetland earlier this week.
The blast on Monday has delayed a German firm’s efforts to hold out the primary vertical satellite tv for pc launch from European soil.
Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA) mentioned launching within the coming weeks or months was “no longer possible”.
Nobody was harm through the incident on the privately-owned SaxaVord Spaceport on Unst, probably the most northerly inhabited island within the UK.
UPDATE on our S1 take a look at anomaly!
Our first stage is gone – however now we have collected a major quantity of knowledge and movie footage. After reviewing it, we need to share some insights into the technical evaluation, preliminary conclusions and our subsequent steps ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/FnGHjTCS2g
— Rocket Factory Augsburg (@rfa_space) August 23, 2024
However the primary stage of the RFA One rocket was destroyed within the blast, which means a substitute will must be introduced from Germany.
In a video posted on social media, a spokesman for the corporate mentioned they’d collected a major quantity of knowledge and photographs from the blast.
The video exhibits a plume of fireplace extending horizontally from the bottom of the rocket, indicating an issue with one of many engines.
He mentioned: “We actually ignited eight motors, unfortunately one of these motors has developed an anomaly.
“We know now from the debris analysis that we have conducted that this anomaly was a very unusual one.
“It was most likely a fire in the oxygen pump.
“That’s really difficult to contain, that spread on to neighbouring engines.”
An emergency cease and hearth suppression methods had been merely not sufficient to include the fireplace, he mentioned, and the remaining gasoline and liquid oxygen on board the car ignited.
The spokesman mentioned: “Unfortunately this has happened in that very important stage test and unfortunately this has taken out the entire stage.
“This comes at a really critical time, we wanted to launch within the next few weeks and months and this is unfortunately no longer possible.”
He mentioned that no “major” components of the launch web site infrastructure had been broken within the explosion, and RFA are assured their engine design is “very sound”.
A SaxaVord spokesman mentioned earlier: “This was a test and test campaigns are designed to identify issues prior to the next stage.
“We will work with RFA to understand and learn from the causes and support them as they move forward to the next phase of their preparations.”
RFA just isn’t the one firm that hopes to realize an orbital satellite tv for pc launch from the UK, although its plans are considered probably the most superior.
Another German firm, HyImpulse, additionally has plans to launch from SaxaVord, in addition to the US-based ABL Space Systems.
An organization known as Orbex hopes to launch from a special spaceport in Sutherland.
Professor Malcolm Macdonald of Strathclyde University, an skilled in house know-how, has advised the PA information company that failures on new designs of rockets should not unusual.
He mentioned: “Obviously things like this get quite high profile and get a lot of interest, but I think most people within the space sector would be expecting setbacks.
“We build the capability over a number of years, and launch is just a small part of the overall space sector.”
