Secret missions
German start-up Isar Aerospace is developing its
own two-stage rocket that is designed to launch
satellite constellations into orbit. Its Spectrum will
have the power to take 1,000 kilograms (2,200
pounds) to low-Earth orbit, and it’s being developed
at tremendous speed. Although the company only
formed recently in 2018, it believes Spectrum could
have its first taste of space in 2021.
This efficiency is possible because of the backing
of Airbus Ventures and other investors providing
£13 million ($17 million) in funding. When it’s4 isar aerospace’s Spectrum
3 NEXT-gen heav y-
lift launcher:
vulcan Centaur
Move over Delta IV and
Atlas V: there’s going
to be a new player in
town. United Launch
Alliance, which operates
the two aforementioned
launchers, is now
creating a two-stage
heavy-lift rocket that
will improve the
capabilities of the US
and its national security
launch needs. United
Launch Alliance aims
to take the rocket
designs from its hugely
successful Delta IV
and Atlas V rockets
and incorporate new
technologies that will
provide more reliable and
affordable launches.
One of the new
additions to the Vulcan
Centaur is the use of two
Blue Origin engines in
the first stage. The BE-4
engines, surrounded
by up to six booster
rockets, will provide
the next generation
of space launches.
There is also talk of an
additional Advanced
Cryogenic Evolved Stage
(ACES), which will allow
operation in space for
weeks instead of hours.assembled the Spectrum rocket will stand at
27-metres (89-feet) tall. It will have a system
similar to SpaceX’s Falcon 9 in terms of engine
configuration. Spectrum will have nine first-stage
Aquila SL engines, and the second cryogenic stage
will have a single Aquila VAC (vacuum) engine.
Daniel Metzler, Isar Aerospace’s chief executive,
has stated that they would like the first stage to be
reusable, but at the moment the focus is on creating
an expendable design which can hopefully provide
15 launches per year.Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic is gaining a lot of momentum in the space tourism world,
which isn’t much of a surprise when you consider the public interest in the project. However,
its sister company, Virgin Orbit, is also making great strides in becoming a satellite launcher.
Instead of the usual two-stage vertical rocket, like Spectrum, H3 and others mentioned here,
Virgin Orbit will launch horizontally, with a two-stage rocket, LauncherOne, strapped onto a
modified Boeing 747-400 aircraft, Cosmic Girl.
Upon launch, Cosmic Girl will ferry LauncherOne to an altitude of 11,000
metres (35,000 feet), where the rocket will be dropped, then carrying a
payload of between 300 and 500 kilograms (660 and 1,100 pounds) into
orbit. The Virgin Orbit team is also in the process of introducing
a third stage to the rocket that will launch interplanetary
missions. This third stage could take 50 kilograms (110
pounds) to Mars, 70 kilograms (150 pounds) to
Venus or over 100 kilograms
(220 kilograms) to the
Moon. The first flight of
Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne
could occur in early 2020,
but that is assuming that
everything goes to plan
and its construction stays
on schedule.5 Virgin Orbit satellite launcher
Right:
Commercial
operations
for Spectrum
could
commence as
early as 2022Right: Virgin
Orbit could
deploy
payloads into
space from
spaceports all
over the globeLeft: United
Launch
Alliance has
launched
missions such
a s N A S A’s
Curiosity
rover, New
Horizons and
© United Launch Alliance OSIRIS-REx © Virgin Orbit
© Isar AerospaceCollectively
the two stages
will use ten engines
that will burn light
hydrocarbons and
liquid oxygen.