BRUNSWICK, Maine (AP) – A Maine company developing a rocket to propel small satellites into space passed its first major test on Sunday.
Brunswick-based BluShift Aerospace has launched a 20-foot (6-meter) prototype rocket, reaching an altitude of just over 4,000 feet (1,219 meters) in a first flight designed to test rocket propulsion and systems. Control.
He carried out a scientific project by Falmouth High School students that would measure flight metrics, such as barometric pressure, a special alloy tested by a New Hampshire company – and a Dutch dessert called stroopwafel, in a tribute to his parent company. from Amsterdam. The launch organizers said the articles were included to demonstrate the inclusion of a small payload.
The company, which was launched from the northern city of Limestone, the site of the former Loring Air Force Base, is one of dozens of flights to find affordable ways to launch so-called nano-satellites. Some of them, called Cube-Sats, can be as small as 10 centimeters by 10 centimeters.
Sascha Deri, executive director of bluShift, said the company aims to become a faster and more efficient way to transport satellites into space.
“There are a lot of companies out there that are like freight trains to space,” Deri said. “We will be the Uber in space, where we transport one, two or three payloads profitably.”
Another aspect that makes the bluShift rocket different is its hybrid propulsion system.
It is based on a solid fuel and a liquid oxidant that passes either through or around the solid fuel; The result is a simpler and more affordable system than a liquid-fuel-only rocket, said spokesman Seth Lockman. Fuel is a proprietary blend of biofuels from farms, Deri said.
“It is a very non-toxic fuel, I like to say that I could give it to any of my little daughters. Nothing bad would happen to them, I swear, “he said. “So it’s very non-toxic. It is carbon neutral. ”
The goal is to create a small rocket that could launch a payload of 30 kilograms (66 kilograms) into Earth’s low orbit, more than 160 kilometers above the Earth’s surface. Lockman said the orbit could be possible by 2024.
The company spent $ 800,000 on research and development, part of the money from NASA.
BluShift representatives said they did not anticipate the possibility of launching in Brunswick, where they are based, due to the population density in the area.
An attempt to launch the test in Calcar in early January was postponed due to the weather. Sunday’s launch was also hampered by several false starts, but organizers of the event described the possible take-off from 3pm as “perfect”.
___
Associated Press journalist Cody Jackson contributed to the report in Miami.