Artist’s rendition of satellites orbiting the Earth – rottenman/123RF Stock Photo
We’re looking at the impact of launch failures for Earth Observation (EO) satellites, together with a potential 3D-printed rocket launch. Starting with the launch failures:
Japanese Launch
We have to report the loss of an EO satellite on Monday as the Japanese Advanced Land Observing Satellite-3 DAICHI-3 (ALOS-3) was lost when the first flight of Japan’s new H3 rocket failed. Following a launch from the Tanegashima Space Center, the second stage ignition failed causing the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency to send a self destruct command to the rocket. The clue to the problem was similar to that of the Virgin Orbital LauncherOne from Cornwall earlier this year, which was the rocket was losing speed.
We wrote about DAICHI-3 last month as it was due to launched in February. The initial launch was delayed by bad weather before an attempt was aborted with six seconds to go due to a technical issue related to an electrical system. DAICHI-3 was an optical EO mission with a six band multi-spectral imager offering a spatial resolution of 3.2m.
The H3 rocket was hoping to provide Japan with an additional reliable rocket launch facility, at an estimated fifty percent reduction in launch costs. This failure will need to be investigated thoroughly to determine what caused the issue.
Europe Launch
The conclusion of a joint investigation by Arianespace and the European Space Agency reported last week, regarding the launch failure of the Vega-C rocket on the 20 December 2022. The rocket was due to put the EO satellites Pléiades Neo 5 and 6 into orbit for Airbus Defence and Space. The report concluded that after a successful first ignition stage, a loss of thrust occurred in the second stage due to a failure of a component in a nozzle which suffered an unexpected thermo-mechanical over-erosion causing thrust to drop. Interestingly, it also highlighted that the acceptance criteria for the component was not sufficient to demonstrate its usability.
The report did not find any issues with the overall design of the Vega-C rocket and introduced a number of recommendations to find an alternative production material for the nozzle, with an expected next launch for the rocket to be towards the end of the year. This process will include an enhanced system qualification of the component.
UK
It is not just the failure itself that causes problems, but it is the reputational damage from the investigation. This was highlighted last week in the UK when the Government’s Science and Technology Committee heard evidence about the failed launch from Spaceport Cornwall. Space Forge, one of the companies who lost a satellite on LauncherOne, indicated that the UK regulatory approach by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) needed to be looked at. The company said that the length of time, level of cost and amount of engagement it took to get the launch licences in the UK was too much and in contrast to experience in other countries. This risked the UK being uncompetitive for satellite launches, and led to the Committee Chairman, Greg Clark MP, noting about the UK:
“We attempted to show what we were capable of, and the result is that things are now toxic for a privately funded launch.“
Launch of a Mostly 3D-printed Rocket
To finish off the blog on a positive note, Wednesday 08 March will, hopefully, see the launch of Terran-1. This rocket is from US company, Relatively Space, and is reported as being an 85% 3D printed rocket, making it the largest 3D printed object to attempt orbital flight and the first with a natural liquid gas booster.
The rocket is 33 metres tall and is due to lift off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The mission is called GLHF standing for “Good Luck, Have Fun”, and aims to prove it’s reliable and ready for commercial payloads.
Post Blog Note: Terran-1 successfully launched on the 22nd March. The rocket completed stage 1, although an anomaly occurred during stage 2 meaning it did not reach its hoped for orbit. However, Relatively Space said that the launch significantly exceed key objectives for the first launch.
Despite the launch failures that occur, it is always exciting to see new ideas and innovations coming into the industry to push at the edge of space.
