The commercial space industry has had a lot of exciting developments. In the last few years. The ability to retrieve and reuse rockets is one of the things that are included. Making rocket launches more cost-effective isn't the only way to make space more accessible. SpinLaunch has a concept for a space catapult that can propel up to 200 kilogrammes to space.
SpinLaunch announced the results of its tenth successful flight test of the SMA on September 27th, 2022. Four partner payloads were sent to space with SpinLaunch's Suborbital Accelerator Flight Test Vehicle, which provided valuable data about the launch environment. The company and its launch system are one step closer to being able to provide low-cost and sustainable launch services.
Jonathan Yaney, the founder of SpinLaunch, has a long history of co-founding startup. Yaney established companies for 15 years before founding SpinLaunch. He started working on a new launch technology that would enable a low-cost and sustainable means of sending satellites to Low Earth Orbit.
The SMA is located at Spaceport America in New Mexico. Payloads are spun up to 10,000 g and then released from the tube. The second stage is released when the launch vehicle's outer shell breaks. The vehicle ignites its single engine and carries its cargo to the desired location.
Since it doesn't leave excess carbon emissions in our atmosphere, this method is far more eco-friendly than the other methods. The company has conducted ten tests since the SMA became operational. Launching test vehicles to higher and higher altitudes was part of the previous flights.
More than 150 partners, government officials, and commercial space industry advocates watched Flight Test 10 include cargo. Critical flight data was provided by the Flight Test Vehicle after it deployed all six of its components. Commercial partners use standard satellite components that are compatible with SMA. In a recent interview with BusinessWire, the founder and CEO said that.
“Flight Test 10 represents a key inflection point for SpinLaunch, as we’ve opened the Suborbital Accelerator system externally for our customers, strategic partners, and research groups. The data and insights collected from flight tests will be invaluable for both SpinLaunch, as we further the development of the Orbital Launch system, and for our customers who are looking to us to provide them with low-cost, high-cadence, sustainable access to space.”
As part of the pre-flight qualification process, SpinLaunch accelerated payloads up to 10,000 g. In preparation for Flight Test 10 at the SMA at Spaceport America, the payloads were inspected and integrated into the FTV.
Two of the instruments carried by the FTV were used to collect data on the flight. Each tested systems vital to the SMA and FTV and gauged the system's ability to safely launch satellites. NASA contributed a data acquisition unit for the purpose of evaluating the launch method for future commercial launches.
The NASA Space Act Agreement was signed by SpinLaunch to develop and fly a sensor suite to space. The launch environment data was gathered using a number of sensors. The satellite sun sensor was provided by the United States Space & Defense. The goal was to see if the extreme loads generated by the launch would affect the signal.
A team of engineers monitored the output signal from the sensor during the high-gcentrifugation test, the pre-flight test, and Flight Test 10. They compared the output signal to the pre-flight data and were happy with the result. The output signal was unaffected during the pre-flight, flight, or recovery phases. A major step in certifying subsystems that are more delicate than other flight components was achieved by this success.
The engineering team from the U.S. is excited to work with SpinLaunch in support of a new accelerated launch concept. We are looking forward to continued collaboration.
The Space Systems Design Studio is located at Cornell University and is part of the school. The ChipSats that will provide in-situ measurements of Earth's upper atmosphere and other planets will be designed by theSSDS. The chipSats were released during the flight to test the SpinLaunch-designed deployment system.
Satellites of every shape and form are likely to be included in SpinLaunch's services. Future tests may include high altitude ChipSat deployment to verify their ability to reenter the atmosphere and follow a path that will cause them to burn up. Hunter Adams is a lecturer in Cornell Engineering.
A critical tool in future planetary science missions will be a centimeter-scale spaceship. ChipSats will descend through the atmosphere and down to the surface of the planet and other places, gathering data as they fall. We need to understand the chaotic trajectory that low-mass and high- surface-area objects take from the top of the atmosphere to the surface of the planet. We can gather important information for future planetary science missions by conducting experiments with SpinLaunch. It's a game-changer for small-scale research.
Outpost is a Los Angeles-based company that is developing satellites that can return to earth. They used an onboard computer to test and qualify the launch system and prove that it is compatible with SpinLaunch. This is a big step in the verification and testing of the launch system, and Outpost and SpinLaunch will continue collaborating in this area. Michael Vergalla is the co-founder and chief technology officer at Outpost.
Outpost and SpinLaunch have the same goal of providing customers with low-cost, rapid launch. It gives us optionality and valuable engineering data for developing our hardware to be compatible with their launch system and unlocks the upside of low-cost and high-cadence launch.
SpinLaunch's ability to launch satellites and small payloads to suborbital altitude has been demonstrated by the success of this most recent test. It shows that the company is on track for sending satellites to space. It's another step on the way to realizing SpinLaunch's next-generation launcher. This system will be larger, more powerful, and will be able to send heavier payloads, greatly expanding the types of missions the company can provide.
The implications of this test for commercial space are equally interesting. There are a growing number of services that are changing how we think about space. Most commercial providers offer at least partially-reusable vehicles, single-stage-to-orbit vehicles, and air-launch vehicles. Orbital balloons, electric rails, mass drivers, and spaceplanes are just some of the things being pushed beyond rockets.
The net effect of these low-cost and sustainable launch systems will be tremendous, enabling everything from megaconstellations to the creation of private space stations and habitats. Who doesn't know? Some of the most ambitious methods for sending people to space are Sky Hooks and Space Elevators.
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