(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Rocket science turns out to be rocket science, and 'new space' startups are learning the hard way [1] ['Daily Kos Staff', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-03-25 To catch up on the space industry, there is a huge amount to talk about. There’s United Launch Alliance reportedly going up for sale, Spinlaunch firing off their first test spikes, and Richard Branson maybe (or maybe not) closing down Virgin Orbit. In fact, there’s so much to cover that it can’t be covered in a single article. This week, we’re going to focus on some start ups that are trying to reach space in the same old pointy-end-first rockets, along with a previous generation firm still have growing pains. Relativity Space 3D printed rocket has ‘partial success’ on first launch This week saw the launch of the Terran-1 rocket from Relativity Space. (Warning: you’ll need to go to the 1 hour 21 minute mark in this video to put you within a few seconds of liftoff). In a lot of ways, the launch was a triumph for Relativity, which was founded in 2015 on the unlikely premise of using fully 3D printed rockets. Not only did their 31m (115’) rocket fly through the most stressful portions of the flight without apparent damage, vindicating their manufacturing process, it did so using their in-house designed Aeon 1 engine, which follows a common trend in new rockets in using cheap, easier to handle liquid methane rather than tricky hydrogen or more expensive RP-1 (a purified form of kerosene). Giants like SpaceX and Blue Origin have been chasing the methane dream for years, but Relativity seemed to have the design nailed as the Terran 1 rose on a column of (actually quite pretty) blue flame. And then … the second stage engine seemed to have problems maintaining combustion and the whole rocket failed to reach orbit. That’s not quite the start that Relativity was looking for, but they seem fairly chuffed about the way their materials held up and the performance of the Aeon engines. Relativity has already announced the Terran 1 is designed only to be a testbed. They’re moving directly to the Terran R, a 66m (216’) two stage rocket that, like SpaceX Starship, is designed to be completely recovered and reused. Like a lot of the companies in this category, Relativity is a company that’s having to adjust to a new market reality. The original cost savings projected by using 3D printers to make their rockets is just not enough to be competitive in a world where the Falcon 9 is projected to put 80% of all mass into orbit next year. With SpaceX going long, Relativity has little choice but to try to design a system that’s at least as efficient. On paper, the Terran R looks good. It’s not the do all, end all, spend human beings around the Solar System craft that Starship is supposed to provide, but it should deliver the average satellite to orbit well below the cost of a Falcon 9 flight — and there’s definitely a market for that. Whether Relativity will try another Terran 1 shot before moving on isn’t clear. Stoke pursues the ‘holy grail’ of rocketry with an absolutely unique engine In terms of getting a rocket to the pad, Stoke Space, founded in 2020, is just in the opening act, but when it comes to getting space industry people excited, they’re already in the stratosphere. At first glance, their plan for a “fully and rapidly reusable rocket” seems like it’s reading from the same press release as every other company entering the game. If you restrict yourself to looking at the first stage of their two stage rocket, powered by seven of the now almost obligatory methane / oxygen rockets, it’s pretty ordinary. It even looks a bit like an upscaled version of the booster on Blue Origin’s tourist rocket. But that second stage engine… well… Yes, friends of rocketry, that is an aerospike. Only not like any aerospike you’ve seen before. Pair their 30 tiny engines in a ring around an actively cooled dome that serves as nozzle and heatshield, then stick them on the bottom of a giant capsule that does that 1960s “alligator” opening, and it’s a system that has a lot of people excited. Whether it’s exciting enough to draw in the necessary levels of investment, or whether it’s even possible, might be easier to say after Stoke conducts “hopper” tests of the upper stage later this year. Can Astra survive a string of failures and move on to something literally bigger One year ago, Astra, which was founded in 2016, managed what might be the most jaw-dropped launch failure in history. Not because the rocket blew up, but because it didn’t — in spite of losing an engine on the launch pad. The result was a flight that genuinely went sideways before it went up. Short on thrust, Astra’s rocket couldn’t actually ascend when it was first released from the launch tower, but in an astounding display of flight control systems, it managed to hover until it had burned off enough fuel for the remaining engine to carry it upwards. However, it never had a chance of reaching orbit. Astra was actually successful in a previous flight, and by reaching orbit five years after their first founding, they hold the record for “fastest to reach orbit” among New Space startups. But that sideways rocket in Alaska wasn’t their only failure. Another rocket failed to reach orbit after engines underperformed in 2020, and during a NASA-sponsored launch from Cape Canaveral in 2022, a third rocket had to be terminated after the second stage engine nozzle was damaged and the rocket burned through all its fuel without getting the required velocity. Like Relativity Space, Astra is moving straight to a new design with “Rocket 4” with a test flight slated for later this year. They’ve been counting on some unique orbital configurations, including some made possible by those Alaska launches, to give them market share, but Astra needs to demonstrate a great deal more reliability before customers sign on. Blue Origin issues a verdict on it’s New Shepard failure Six months ago, Blue Origin’s long string of successful flights using its suborbital New Shepard rocket came to an abrupt pause when the 23rd flight ran into an issue. Just as the rocket passed the point of maximum atmospheric stress, the capsule’s emergency escape system fired. Blue Origin has just released their findings on the accident, and as emergencies go, it seems all their safety systems worked as planned. The direct cause of the NS-23 mishap was a thermo-structural failure of the engine nozzle. The resulting thrust misalignment properly triggered the Crew Capsule escape system, which functioned as designed throughout the flight. The Crew Capsule and all payloads onboard landed safely and will be flown again. All systems designed to protect public safety functioned as planned. There were no injuries. There was no damage to ground-based systems, and all debris was recovered in the designated hazard area. Blue Origin expects to return to flight soon, with a re-flight of the NS-23 payloads. No one was on the flight that failed, but had their been someone on board, it appears they would have been fine. Still, everyone just wants Blue Origin to open the giant doors at its HQ just outside Kennedy Space Center and roll out their Starship competitor, the New Glenn. Years of delays and excruciatingly slow progress are raising a lot of doubt about Jeff Bezos’ space project. Blue Origin was founded all the back in 2000, before SpaceX. It’s a generation older than all the new kids on the block, and it has the wealth of Mr. Amazon behind it. Why is it just so, so, slow? [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/3/25/2160202/-Rocket-science-turns-out-to-be-rocket-science-and-new-space-startups-are-learning-the-hard-way Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/