United Launch Alliance
Welcome to edition 5.14 of the Rocket Report! There’s plenty of small rocket news to digest this week – from Japan to Washington to Australia and back again. Please take the time to read it, because next week I will be free to work on a book project. Thank you for your patience.
As always, we welcome reader submissions, and if you don’t want to miss any issue, please subscribe using the box below (the form will not appear on AMP-compatible versions of the site). Each report includes information on small, medium and heavy rockets, as well as a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the calendar.
Virgin Orbit may seek more funding. Last December, when Virgin Orbit, a small satellite launch company, went public through a Special Purpose Acquisition Company, it set a goal to raise $483 million. However, the company only raised $228 million. So now, months later, Virgin Orbit appears to be looking for additional capital, reports London-based publication City AM.
Focused on a November LauncherOne flight … Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart said the launch company is still receiving funding from the Virgin Group, but it could seek more funding following the SPAC result. “We still get good support from them, but we want to be opportunistic in the market,” he said. “So we’ll look at pursuing capital as we move forward.” Hart made the comments as Virgin Orbit prepares for its first launch from the UK later this year.
Stoke Space unveils ambitious plans. In a lengthy article, Ars reports on the journey that Stoke Space, based in Washington, has come in the past three years since it was founded by two former Blue Origin propulsion engineers. Stoke wants to develop a fully reusable two-stage rocket with a lift capacity of just over 1.5 tons to low Earth orbit. Last month, the company began testing the upper stage motors at a facility in Moses Lake, Washington. The images and video show an intriguing-looking ring with 15 discrete thrusters firing for several seconds.
Build a funnel … The circular structure is 13 feet in diameter, and this new-looking design is Stoke’s answer to one of the biggest challenges of getting a second stage out of orbit. Wanting to protect the upper stage engine during reentry, Stoke plans to use a ring of 30 smaller thrusters. In a vacuum, the plumes of these nozzles are designed to fuse together and work as one. And on reentry, with a smaller number of smaller thrusters firing, it’s easier to protect the nozzles. The next step for the company, in the first half of 2023, is a series of hop tests for a second-stage prototype.
Epsilon Missile Fails in Sixth Flight. A Japanese rocket failed during a launch attempt on Wednesday, with the country’s space agency ordering the Epsilon launch vehicle to self-destruct just minutes after launch because it deviated from its intended trajectory, The Mainichi reports. The development marked the Japanese space agency’s first rocket launch failure since November 2003, when an H2A rocket was deliberately destroyed shortly after launch. This new accident was a blow to JAXS as it wants to sell commercial satellite launches on Epsilon.
Looking to restore trust … The space agency did not provide much additional information about the accident, which appeared to happen after the second stage of the rocket was shut down. It is possible that the engine of the third stage did not ignite. JAXA President Hiroshi Yamakawa said it was undeniable that the gaffe would affect several plans, but emphasized that the agency would “do its utmost to restore confidence in it.” The agency will launch its new flagship H3 rocket in fiscal 2022 (which ends in March), after being delayed twice before, as well as an upgraded Epsilon model slated for fiscal 2023. (filed by puni, tsunam, and know the trash)
