Author Topic: tiSpace-Taiwanese commercial launch company (Read 102950 times)

Steven Pietrobon · « **Reply #60 on:** 09/10/2021 01:27 am »

No launch yet.

"Hey Everyone! Our teams are working towards launching the Hapith I today still 🙂 We don't have a live feed of the event, due to the nature of this being a test launch. We will update the outcome of today as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience!"

https://twitter.com/SouthernLaunch/status/1436138248892399623

Steven Pietrobon · « **Reply #61 on:** 09/10/2021 04:07 am »

It got ugly this morning.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-10/police-called-over-protesters-at-whalers-way-rocket-launch/100446940

"Protesters and security guards have clashed at the site of a rocket launch on South Australia's Eyre Peninsula this morning."

CameronD · « **Reply #62 on:** 09/10/2021 04:44 am »

Quote from: Steven Pietrobon on 09/10/2021 04:07 am

It got ugly this morning.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-10/police-called-over-protesters-at-whalers-way-rocket-launch/100446940

"Protesters and security guards have clashed at the site of a rocket launch on South Australia's Eyre Peninsula this morning."

Nasty.. I guess that's only to be expected when you make the mistake of telling people what you're up to.

Steven Pietrobon · « **Reply #63 on:** 09/10/2021 07:47 am »

Scrub!

"LAUNCH UPDATE: 10 SEPTEMBER 2021
Due to strong upper winds at WWOLC, the Hapith I launch has been postponed for Friday, September 10th.
Southern Launch and TiSPACE will determine a revised test launch date with the Australian Space Agency."

https://twitter.com/SouthernLaunch/status/1436234554361090072

CameronD · « **Reply #64 on:** 09/10/2021 07:55 am »

A bit more detail from LinkedIn:

LAUNCH UPDATE: 10 SEPTEMBER 2021

Unfortunately, due to strong upper winds the Southern Launch and TiSPACE teams, as well as the Australian Space Agency, came to the decision to postpone the Hapith I launch that was schedule for today (Friday, September 10th). Our teams monitored the winds using radiosondes, in conjunction with information provided from the Bureau of Meteorology, and determined that it would be unsafe to launch in the wind conditions monitored throughout the day.

Southern Launch and TiSPACE will determine a revised test launch date with the Australian Space Agency.

Southern Launch CEO Lloyd Damp said,
“Space is hard and that’s why we’re taking an incremental approach to developing an Australian space launch capability. We had planned and trained for this potential outcome, facing an external factor like weather which would result in our teams needing to postpone the launch. The team are disappointed that we were unable to make history today for the Australian space industry, however our launch window is still open until Thursday, September 23rd, so we will be back on the range to attempt another launch.”

#SafetyFirst #Weather #WWOLC

EDIT to add a passing comment from Lloyd (on LinkedIn):

Quote

Imagine having a great surf and watching a launch from the back line!
Not for me though….water’s a bit too ‘bitey’ for my liking

Conexion Espacial · « **Reply #65 on:** 09/14/2021 02:42 am »

New Launch date: September 15
https://twitter.com/SouthernLaunch/status/1437606556619599874

Conexion Espacial · « **Reply #66 on:** 09/14/2021 05:08 am »

The launch window in UTC time is as follows:
Tuesday, September 14 from 20:30 UTC to 08:30 UTC on Wednesday, September 15.https://twitter.com/SouthernLaunch/status/1437640632848171018

Steven Pietrobon · « **Reply #67 on:** 09/14/2021 08:55 am »

I'll be at the Australian Space Forum tomorrow, so I won't be able to cover the launch, but I might be able to get some information from the Southern Launch stand.

CameronD · « **Reply #68 on:** 09/14/2021 10:55 pm »

Quote from: Steven Pietrobon on 09/14/2021 08:55 am

I'll be at the Australian Space Forum tomorrow, so I won't be able to cover the launch, but I might be able to get some information from the Southern Launch stand.

Interesting timing, isn't it? I imagine the only SL folks you'll find on their stand will be those sad that they're not at Whalers Way! Maybe there'll be a big "steal the show" announcement?!?

For obvious reasons I can't make it to this one, Steven, but keep us posted!

Steven Pietrobon · « **Reply #69 on:** 09/15/2021 09:36 am »

Here's the twitter update.

"LAUNCH UPDATE

At 2:18 pm (ACST) Southern Launch and TiSPACE countdown was halted just before lift-off, stopping the launch sequence. During the final steps prior to lift-off, one of the systems did not come online. As per safety protocols, the rocket was put into a safe state."

https://twitter.com/SouthernLaunch/status/1438034199328354306

Steven Pietrobon · « **Reply #70 on:** 09/15/2021 09:43 am »

OK, it was a pretty exciting day at the Space Forum. Here's the photo of the Southern Launch stand with the nice "Gone for launch" notice. They initially tried to launch at 10 am, but scrubbed due to high altitude winds. The next attempt was at 2 pm, then 2:13 pm, and then 2:18 pm as indicated by the tweet. There was some one there who was on the Southern Launch WhatsApp where updates were being received (unfortunately not available to us plebs). First the transporter erector was retracted. The next message was "T-1 minute", but the minute passed and finally "Launch aborted", followed by "Updates to follow" but that was the last message I saw.

Steven Pietrobon · « **Reply #71 on:** 09/16/2021 07:59 am »

Seems like they tried again today, but the vehicle caught fire at ignition. From their website

"VS01 Launch Attempt Update
At 4:09 pm (ACST) on 16 September 2021 Southern Launch and TiSPACE attempted to launch the Hapith I from the Whalers Way Orbital Launch Complex.
During ignition, the launch vehicle suffered an internal fault causing the vehicle to catch alight. The fire was contained to the launch pad and was attended to by the South Australian Country Fire Service, who were onsite.
No people or the environment were put at risk."

https://www.southernlaunch.space/

Steven Pietrobon · « **Reply #72 on:** 09/16/2021 08:06 am »

We missed this update on their Facebook page.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2957521471173642&id=2193973637528433

"LAUNCH UPDATE: 16 SEPTEMBER 2021
Here we go again!

The rocket has been given the all clear by the team for launch.
The Australian Space Agency has announced a launch window for today, closing at 6.30pm (ACST).

Stay tuned for updates"

Conexion Espacial · « **Reply #73 on:** 09/16/2021 01:27 pm »

My goodness, a surprise launch since it was not announced on Twitter and a surprise this anomaly, I hope the rocket still has a chance to fly. $:-\$

Steven Pietrobon · « **Reply #74 on:** 09/16/2021 11:02 pm »

Looks like the vehicle exploded on the pad. TiSpace have two other rockets there, but it may take some time to find out what went wrong and to repair the pad.

"Rocket catches fire during latest lift-off attempt at Whalers Way launch site on Eyre Peninsula
...
A witness, who did not want to be named, told the ABC they saw black smoke coming out from the rocket stand.

"And a few moments later there was a large bang and some white smoke went up and then later some steam," they said.

"… There was certainly quite a bit of noise and a lot of smoke."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-16/whalers-way-rocket-lift-off-delayed-by-launch-vehicle-fire/100468692

The article below is paywalled.

https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/subscribe/news/1/?sourceCode=AAWEB_WRE170_a_GGL&dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.adelaidenow.com.au%2Fmessenger%2Fport-lincoln%2Fsouthern-launchs-second-attempt-at-firing-tispace-hapith-i-rocket-into-space-suffers-tech-failure%2Fnews-story%2F1beee2d75200279f23f013cf963a5cf2&memtype=anonymous&mode=premium&v21=dynamic-cold-test-noscore&V21spcbehaviour=append

CameronD · « **Reply #75 on:** 09/16/2021 11:50 pm »

Quote from: Steven Pietrobon on 09/16/2021 11:02 pm

Looks like the vehicle exploded on the pad. TiSpace have two other rockets there, but it may take some time to find out what went wrong and to repair the pad.

The pad itself is basically just a concrete slab, so other than some scorch marks there should be no hassles there. Their biggest headache would be if they lost their Nitrous isotainer.. but I think there'd be a much bigger boom if they did.

Finding out what went wrong will be harder. Bummer.

Conexion Espacial · « **Reply #76 on:** 09/18/2021 07:48 pm »

Quote from: Steven Pietrobon on 09/16/2021 11:02 pm

Looks like the vehicle exploded on the pad. TiSpace have two other rockets there, but it may take some time to find out what went wrong and to repair the pad.

"Rocket catches fire during latest lift-off attempt at Whalers Way launch site on Eyre Peninsula
...
A witness, who did not want to be named, told the ABC they saw black smoke coming out from the rocket stand.

"And a few moments later there was a large bang and some white smoke went up and then later some steam," they said.

"… There was certainly quite a bit of noise and a lot of smoke."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-16/whalers-way-rocket-lift-off-delayed-by-launch-vehicle-fire/100468692

The article below is paywalled.

https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/subscribe/news/1/?sourceCode=AAWEB_WRE170_a_GGL&dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.adelaidenow.com.au%2Fmessenger%2Fport-lincoln%2Fsouthern-launchs-second-attempt-at-firing-tispace-hapith-i-rocket-into-space-suffers-tech-failure%2Fnews-story%2F1beee2d75200279f23f013cf963a5cf2&memtype=anonymous&mode=premium&v21=dynamic-cold-test-noscore&V21spcbehaviour=append

Do you know the coordinates of the launch site? I would like to see if the satellites saw something and a before and after in the launch area.

Skyrocket · « **Reply #77 on:** 09/18/2021 10:55 pm »

It should be at 34.93446° S, 135.64229° E

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?hl=de&ll=-34.93547691051405%2C135.64198990409238&z=17&mid=1DX5gNX8QUYyGT6USom3uT_MhIpA

Conexion Espacial · « **Reply #78 on:** 09/22/2021 03:50 am »

https://twitter.com/SouthernLaunch/status/1440520237053476882

Conexion Espacial · « **Reply #79 on:** 09/22/2021 03:52 am »

Quote

After inspection of the Hapith I vehicle, post the September 16th launch attempt, Southern Launch and TiSPACE have concluded that we won’t continue with any further launch attempts of this particular vehicle.

Lloyd Damp, Southern Launch CEO said,
“This test launch vehicle may not have taken Australia to space, however it has provided our teams with valuable data and insights, which will lead TiSPACE in refining their launch vehicle capabilities further, and Southern Launch with the vibration and noise data needed to support the major development of the Whalers Way Orbital Launch Complex.

We thank the Australian Space Agency, the Government of South Australia, and the emergency services for their support of the VS01 test launch campaign. And, we thank all of the businesses and individuals who went above and beyond in their assistance to our teams during the test launch.”

More details to come on VS02 and VS03 test launch campaigns, proposed to be completed by 31 December 2021.

https://www.southernlaunch.space/news/vs01-launch-updates