https://www.rfa.space/launcher/According to the web site, they are using 9 engines in the first stage, and 1 in the second stage.I have no idea what Ukrainian engine this is based on.
Quote from: Danderman on 04/01/2021 02:50 pmhttps://www.rfa.space/launcher/According to the web site, they are using 9 engines in the first stage, and 1 in the second stage.I have no idea what Ukrainian engine this is based on.There it is written 1600 kg into the ISS orbit!The numbers are close to the Rokot. But the Rokot developed 190 tons of thrust at takeoff.RFA One less than half.
Well @elonmusk, some similarity can not be denied, can it? 😜🚀#RFA @SpaceX #Starship #RocketFactory Credits: @NASASpaceflight @BocaChicaGal
It's okay to copy SapceX as long as you manage to do something in space !But did you make the stainless steel before SpaceX ?
We chose the steel design more than 3.5 years ago. Hard to tell who had the idea before, but if you go for extensive reusability at lowest costs, steel is the material of choice.
https://twitter.com/rfa_space/status/1425142751436410880QuoteWell @elonmusk, some similarity can not be denied, can it? #RFA @SpaceX #Starship #RocketFactory Credits: @NASASpaceflight @BocaChicaGaltwitter.com/zouki_rud/status/1425197236498092032Quote It's okay to copy SapceX as long as you manage to do something in space !But did you make the stainless steel before SpaceX ?https://twitter.com/rfa_space/status/1425328326932144130Quote We chose the steel design more than 3.5 years ago. Hard to tell who had the idea before, but if you go for extensive reusability at lowest costs, steel is the material of choice.
Well @elonmusk, some similarity can not be denied, can it? #RFA @SpaceX #Starship #RocketFactory Credits: @NASASpaceflight @BocaChicaGal
You can't make an omelette without breaking eggs! With our cryogenic burst test we pushed the #limits of our first stage design and #successfully demonstrated the strengthening of our steel alloy under cryo conditions!A new first stage is already in the pipeline. On we go! 🚀
Rocket Factory Augsburg (@rfa_space) is a german startup developing a reusable rocket. They've recently conducted cryogenic pressure testing and engine testing for their RFA One rocket, set to debut in late 2022.Article by Adrian Beil (@BCCarCounters):
SENER Aeroespacial and Rocket Factory Augsburg AG (RFA) have agreed on a launch service contract. As a result, SENER Aeroespacial will launch its E.T.PACK technology demonstrator with the RFA ONE micro launcher.SENER Aeroespacial will launch its small satellite, called E.T.PACK, into near-Earth orbit at mid-inclination. E.T.PACK is a deorbit device that will demonstrate a novel electrodynamic tether technology for deorbiting satellites and launcher upper stages without chemical or electrical propulsion. The flight is of high interest for RFA since the potential adoption of SENER Aeroespacial technology in the future can be an asset for the RFA ONE launch system.The signing of the agreement took place on October 26 during the IAC 2021 exhibition in Dubai, between the Chief Commercial Officer of RFA, Jörn Spurmann, and the Director of Institutional Space Department of SENER Aeroespacial, Augusto Caramagno.
SENER Aeroespacial and the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) have set up a laboratory to develop a new device to deorbit space debris based on electrodynamic tether technology. The laboratory, located in SENER’s facilities in Tres Cantos (Madrid, Spain), will be used to integrate the avionics system into the deorbit device that is currently under development thanks to E.T.PACK, a FET-OPEN project funded with €3million by the European Commission.<snip>The opening of this new laboratory kicks off the process of integrating the avionics system into the deorbit device. The consortium will have the first complete prototype of the device ready by late 2022 and plans to mature it in a later project that will end with an in-orbit demonstration by late 2024. The goal is to have the system operational in 2025.
German launch startup Rocket Factory Augsburg has signed a new customer for the first launch of its RFA One rocket next year.The firm announced Nov. 18 a launch contract inked at the Space Tech Expo Europe in Bremen with Ukraine-based Lunar Research Service (LRS) for launch of a research mission. The spacecraft will launch on the first flight of the reusable RFA One launcher, currently set to take place at the end of 2022 from Andøya spaceport, Norway.During the expo RFA also signed a memorandum of understanding for cooperation with Morpheus Space with a view to integrating Morpheus propulsion systems in the RFA One, as well as another MoU with London-based space tech startup Lúnasa relating to the latter’s reusable orbital transfer vehicle named VIA.
Spanish-German company Plus Ultra Space Outposts is making moves to be the provider for essential communications and navigation infrastructure for upcoming moon missions.The Spanish-German company signed a launch agreement late October with Germany startup Rocket Factory Augsburg to launch Plus Ultra’s first satellite. That mission, set to launch in the final quarter of 2023, would see the roughly 400-kilogram satellite sent into geosynchronous transfer orbit. The satellite will then use its own electric propulsion system to reach lunar orbit, arriving in place around six months later.<snip>Plus Ultra’s Harmony constellation aims to provide greater coverage and data rates than those set out in requirements such as those in NASA’s LunaNet initiative, which seeks to put infrastructure in place, possibly using public-private partnerships, service contract arrangements and potentially multiple providers. “We’re talking about 100 megabits per user, we’re talking about global coverage, we are talking about a GPS-like navigation system,” says Ströhl. The goal would be to change communications and navigation from a carefully managed resource into an on-demand service that enables new capabilities.The completed constellation would consist of eight satellites orbiting in two planes, at 6,000 kilometers above the lunar surface and using laser communications links. The first four satellites would already provide 80% coverage of the lunar surface. The completed constellation would provide 100% coverage.
There are enough ideas and technological knowledge at RFA, nearly too much. E.g. there are ideas in the company to build larger rockets, to enable transporting larger satellites. But this just distracts from the actual goal.I want to sharpen RFA's product focus. Despite of all creativity and passion we face the exciting challenge to build a low-priced rocket with high reliability.
Enough with the renders! Let us introduce: The #Helix engine 🔥Ready for some more information on this marvellous piece of #engineering and the chance to win unique polaroid pics of this beauty? ⬇️ (1/6)Our #Helix is the first staged-combustion engine in the EU. Its oxygen-rich closed-cycle allows it to run more efficiently and be more #performant than open cycle engines. It is made of ❓ different materials, all working together to produce 100kN of thrust. (2/6)On our 1st stage we have 9x Helix with an Isp of 325s, on our 2nd stage one vacuum optimized Helix with 350s. Being closed-cycle, it emits fewer sooty exhaust gases, making it more #environmentally friendly & compliant with our vision to get closer to Earth from space. (3/6)Critical parts of the engine are #3Dprinted, which is perfect for complex and very fine structures, e.g. cooling channels. 3D printing also allows us to significantly reduce costs & production time as well as scaling and #automation of the production. (4/6)Last July, we successfully tested our in-house developed #Helix engine for the first time. Now that the first engine in flight configuration is ready, we are preparing for a long duration hot fire test. Stay tuned on that, it's going to be spectacular! (5/6)Now for the question mark from above: Can you guess how many different materials are used in the #Helix? Comment your guess to enter a draw for a chance to win one of only a few unique polaroid pictures of this beauty 😍 (6/6).
SENER Aeroespacial and Rocket Factory Augsburg sign launch service agreement [dated Oct. 26]QuoteSENER Aeroespacial and Rocket Factory Augsburg AG (RFA) have agreed on a launch service contract. As a result, SENER Aeroespacial will launch its E.T.PACK technology demonstrator with the RFA ONE micro launcher.SENER Aeroespacial will launch its small satellite, called E.T.PACK, into near-Earth orbit at mid-inclination. E.T.PACK is a deorbit device that will demonstrate a novel electrodynamic tether technology for deorbiting satellites and launcher upper stages without chemical or electrical propulsion. The flight is of high interest for RFA since the potential adoption of SENER Aeroespacial technology in the future can be an asset for the RFA ONE launch system.The signing of the agreement took place on October 26 during the IAC 2021 exhibition in Dubai, between the Chief Commercial Officer of RFA, Jörn Spurmann, and the Director of Institutional Space Department of SENER Aeroespacial, Augusto Caramagno.Launch will take place "by late 2024":SENER Aeroespacial and the UC3M open a laboratory to integrate a deorbit device to eliminate space debris [dated Feb. 3]QuoteSENER Aeroespacial and the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) have set up a laboratory to develop a new device to deorbit space debris based on electrodynamic tether technology. The laboratory, located in SENER’s facilities in Tres Cantos (Madrid, Spain), will be used to integrate the avionics system into the deorbit device that is currently under development thanks to E.T.PACK, a FET-OPEN project funded with €3million by the European Commission.<snip>The opening of this new laboratory kicks off the process of integrating the avionics system into the deorbit device. The consortium will have the first complete prototype of the device ready by late 2022 and plans to mature it in a later project that will end with an in-orbit demonstration by late 2024. The goal is to have the system operational in 2025.
The E.T.PACK-Fly consortium, coordinated by the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) and made up of the University of Padova, the Technical University of Dresden (TU Dresden), the Spanish company SENER Aeroespacial and the German start-up Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA), has received €2.5 million from the European Innovation Council (EIC) to develop a device based on a space tether to deorbit space debris.<snip>With a duration of two and a half years, the project will start in September 2022 and it aims to prepare the flight model of a deorbit device to be launched into orbit in 2025. RFA and SENER Aeroespacial have already signed the launch service agreement.
