Author Topic: Super Strypi (SPARK) launch vehicle - any info?  (Read 99894 times)

Offline catdlr

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Offline russianhalo117

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Re: Super Strypi (SPARK) launch vehicle - any info?
« Reply #21 on: 04/27/2013 03:46 pm »
The page 1 that Blackstar posted says that it is spin-stabilized through the entire flight?
My info must be out of date then.

Offline douglas100

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Re: Super Strypi (SPARK) launch vehicle - any info?
« Reply #22 on: 04/30/2013 07:12 pm »
I'm assuming that even if it spins for the whole flight, the upper stage(s) at least would have some kind of attitude control system for pitch over for orbital injection.
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Offline dchill

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Re: Super Strypi (SPARK) launch vehicle - any info?
« Reply #23 on: 05/03/2013 01:38 pm »
...
The weird thing is that this rocket seems to have a bunch of different names. I think I saw it at the Aerojet booth listed as "Leonides" but nobody at a press conference used that name.
...

Definitely confusing with so many names.  LEONIDAS was at one time the name of the satellite sponsoring program: Low Earth Orbiting Nanosatellite Integrated Defense Autonomous System.  Not sure why it's still hanging around...

Offline Skyrocket

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Re: Super Strypi (SPARK) launch vehicle - any info?
« Reply #24 on: 11/12/2013 11:13 am »
Rail launcher for Hawaii’s first space launch completed

http://www.hawaii.edu/news/2013/10/29/rail-launcher-for-hawaiis-first-space-launch-completed/

Photo: Sandia National Lab.
« Last Edit: 11/12/2013 11:42 am by Skyrocket »

Offline Blackstar

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Re: Super Strypi (SPARK) launch vehicle - any info?
« Reply #25 on: 11/17/2013 04:46 am »
So on Friday I got out to the old SLC-5 site. It was flattened in 2010 or so. Some of the high pressure tanks went to Edwards and the rail launcher went to... Hawaii.

Now that's actually rather interesting. There is a document on the net somewhere listing SLC-5 as a possible launch site for Super Strypi. I think that was around 2004 or so. Of course that never happens, SLC-5 gets demolished, and then the rail ends up in Hawaii. Small world, huh?

Here are a couple of photos I took at the former SLC-5 site. The sign is at what used to be the entrance to the launch pad. The other picture is at what used to be the launch building. SLC-6 is off in the distance. I have some more photos, but they show a big patch of dirt where the SLC-5 Scout rocket facility used to be located.

Offline Blackstar

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Re: Super Strypi (SPARK) launch vehicle - any info?
« Reply #26 on: 11/17/2013 04:53 am »
Rail launcher for Hawaii’s first space launch completed

http://www.hawaii.edu/news/2013/10/29/rail-launcher-for-hawaiis-first-space-launch-completed/

Photo: Sandia National Lab.

I am trying to figure out if this rail launcher was taken from SLC-5 at Vandenberg about three years ago. I was at SLC-5 around 2005 or so (and at least one time earlier) and I was told that the rail went to Hawaii. However, there are enough differences that I cannot tell if any of the SLC-5 rail is being used here.


Offline William Graham

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Re: Super Strypi (SPARK) launch vehicle - any info?
« Reply #27 on: 11/17/2013 08:21 am »
It has previously been stated that the rail from SLC-5 would be used.

Offline Skyrocket

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Re: Super Strypi (SPARK) launch vehicle - any info?
« Reply #28 on: 11/17/2013 10:01 am »
It has previously been stated that the rail from SLC-5 would be used.
Which is somewhat interesting, as SLC-5 was not a rail launcher.

The erectable part (mast on SLC-5, now rail on LP-41) is definitely a new construction. The base part looks, if it could have been taken from SLC-5, but has been somewhat modified.
« Last Edit: 11/17/2013 10:36 am by Skyrocket »

Offline Blackstar

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Re: Super Strypi (SPARK) launch vehicle - any info?
« Reply #29 on: 11/17/2013 03:13 pm »
Okay, here is a paper that appears to date from 1998 that discusses Super Strypi. If I am reading this correctly, it says that there was supposed to be a new rail launcher installed at SLC-5. However, that never happened.

My colleague at Vandenberg thinks that the rail from SLC-5 went to Hawaii. Maybe it is being used for another purpose out there.

Offline Skyrocket

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Re: Super Strypi (SPARK) launch vehicle - any info?
« Reply #30 on: 11/17/2013 03:48 pm »
Okay, here is a paper that appears to date from 1998 that discusses Super Strypi. If I am reading this correctly, it says that there was supposed to be a new rail launcher installed at SLC-5. However, that never happened.

My colleague at Vandenberg thinks that the rail from SLC-5 went to Hawaii. Maybe it is being used for another purpose out there.

If i remember correctly, the original intention was, that the SLC-5 launch structure was to be fitted with a launch rail.

The now published show, that a new rail-tower was constructed. That leaves the base structure, which could be inherited from SLC-5. The photos hint, that these base parts may have indeed been retained, but in a modified form.

Offline Helodriver

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Re: Super Strypi (SPARK) launch vehicle - any info?
« Reply #31 on: 11/17/2013 04:47 pm »
A contact of mine who runs the Vandenberg Historical Museum at SLC-10, confirmed for me that the SLC-5 launching hardware was indeed sent to Hawaii before the pad's demolition.

Offline Blackstar

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Re: Super Strypi (SPARK) launch vehicle - any info?
« Reply #32 on: 11/17/2013 05:41 pm »
A contact of mine who runs the Vandenberg Historical Museum at SLC-10, confirmed for me that the SLC-5 launching hardware was indeed sent to Hawaii before the pad's demolition.

We talked to the same person.

My point is that although that may have been the plan, it is possible that they chose to do something different and built a new structure. We'd need to contact the people involved in the project to find out what they have actually done.

Online Galactic Penguin SST

Re: Super Strypi (SPARK) launch vehicle - any info?
« Reply #33 on: 08/13/2014 04:42 pm »
So what's up with this? I just saw on the launch schedule that its first flight is planned in November?  :o

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Online Galactic Penguin SST

Re: Super Strypi (SPARK) launch vehicle - any info?
« Reply #34 on: 08/14/2014 06:48 am »
So what's up with this? I just saw on the launch schedule that its first flight is planned in November?  :o

Hot off the presses: Aerojet has completed test firing the first stage motor.  :)

Aerojet Rocketdyne Completes Successful LEO-46 Rocket Motor Test
SACRAMENTO, Calif., Aug. 13, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aerojet Rocketdyne, a GenCorp (NYSE:GY) company, today announced that its Low Earth Orbiting Nanosatellite Integrated Defense Autonomous System (LEONIDAS) first stage solid propellant rocket motor (LEO-46) successfully completed a hot-fire static test at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

Aerojet Rocketdyne monitored the full-scale, full-duration firing of the 52-inch diameter by 40-foot long motor as it generated nearly 300,000-lbf of thrust during the 73-second test. LEO-46 is the first stage of a three-stage propulsion system developed for the Super Strypi rail-launched, spin stabilized launch vehicle.

The unique design of the solid rocket motors (SRM), combined with the simplicity of the launch vehicle architecture, enables low cost space access for small satellite packages up to 250 kg to 300 kg. The LEO-46 firing completes the series of three successful LEO motor ground test demonstrations. The LEO-7 second stage motor and the LEO-1 third stage motor were successfully tested in August 2012 and September 2013, respectively.

"This final LEO hot-fire test highlights the success of our robust, affordable large motor development efforts," said Tyler Evans, Aerojet Rocketdyne vice president of the Rocket ShopSM Defense Advanced Programs. "With the advent of the LEO family of motors, along with our recent large class (92") second stage static tests, Aerojet Rocketdyne is an industry leader in newly developed large solid rocket motors."

Aerojet Rocketdyne will complete final build-up of a flight motor set this year to support the ORS-4 launch mission. Sponsored by the Operationally Responsive Space Office, in partnership with Sandia National Laboratories, the University of Hawaii/Hawaii Space Flight Laboratory, the Pacific Missile Range Facility and Aerojet Rocketdyne, the ORS-4 mission will launch out of Kauai, Hawaii. The maiden flight will represent the largest propulsion system ever launched from a rail system.

"The LEO motors and their variants will serve applications in small launch vehicles, target vehicles and national defense architectures," said Paul Meyer, Aerojet Rocketdyne senior vice president, Advanced Programs and Business Development. "This tremendous effort was accomplished in our Rocket ShopSM by a small team of dedicated personnel working closely with colleagues in industry, academia and government agencies. I am very excited about the upcoming Super Strypi flight test and the future educational, commercial and national security benefits achieved with this new launch vehicle."

Aerojet Rocketdyne is a world-recognized aerospace and defense leader providing propulsion and energetics to the space, missile defense and strategic systems, tactical systems and armaments areas, in support of domestic and international markets. GenCorp is a diversified company that provides innovative solutions that create value for its customers in the aerospace and defense, and real estate markets. Additional information about Aerojet Rocketdyne and GenCorp can be obtained by visiting the companies' websites at www.Rocket.com and www.GenCorp.com.
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Offline Steven Pietrobon

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Re: Super Strypi (SPARK) launch vehicle - any info?
« Reply #36 on: 10/03/2014 07:21 am »
Launch cost is mentioned at $16M per mission, which might eventually become $12M per mission. This is for a 300 kg payload. That works out to $53K/kg initially and $40K/kg later. That's not very cheap.
Akin's Laws of Spacecraft Design #1:  Engineering is done with numbers.  Analysis without numbers is only an opinion.

Offline RanulfC

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Re: Super Strypi (SPARK) launch vehicle - any info?
« Reply #37 on: 10/03/2014 08:04 pm »
I like how this conept of "solids" being "low-cost" keeps coming up and there's really no data to support that supposition given their low performance....

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Offline kevin-rf

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Re: Super Strypi (SPARK) launch vehicle - any info?
« Reply #38 on: 10/03/2014 10:26 pm »
Has any western organization made liquids work for less than $16 million?

SpaceX abandoned the Falcon 1 concept after a few launches, Antonio a while back mentioned that Pegasus was in the $20 million range (Wiki sites has an out of date 1994 number)... Wiki numbers give Vega costing some 1 billion euro's to develop (700 million euro to develop, 400 million euro for the test flights) and 32 million euro's per flight.

Using those numbers, $16 million for access to space sounds like a fair price. The only thing currently cheaper is the subsidized Dnepr which uses refurbished ICBM's and may or not be breaking even.

Sometimes it is about a payload to a given orbit, and not about the mass to orbit. 
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Offline QuantumG

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Re: Super Strypi (SPARK) launch vehicle - any info?
« Reply #39 on: 10/04/2014 12:36 am »
Has any western organization made liquids work for less than $16 million?

Armadillo Aerospace, Masten Space Systems, XCOR?

Human spaceflight is basically just LARPing now.

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