Rockoons, aerospikes, and a MiG29
Issue 4. Firstly, I want to apologize to those of you who signed up on the website and never received the newsletter. In all honesty, I added that feature to the website when I first launched it and then promptly forgot about it. The lists have, however, now been combined, and you can expect a mail from me weekly. There are 180 of you this week, and I want to thank each and every one of you, it means the world to me!
The diversity among European launch startups
Europe’s launch startup revolution is in full swing, with operators across the continent racing to get to the launchpad. Unlike in the US and China, many European companies have not found themselves restrained by tradition and best practices. Instead, many are pursuing novel solutions to the complex problem that is getting to orbit.
If we’re looking for novel solutions, few make for better conversation than a rockoon. What is a rockoon, you ask? Well, it’s a rocket that is carried to the upper atmosphere by a high-altitude balloon. The rocket is then ignited carrying its cargo to orbit.
Europe has not one but two different companies pursuing the rockoon approach in B2Space in the United Kingdom and the possibly-still-operational Zero2Infinity in Spain. B2Space is probably the one to watch. The company has raised €4.2 million in funding to develop Colibri. The vehicle is a three-stage solid-fuel rocket designed to deliver up to 200kgs to low Earth orbit.
Then there are the air-launched vehicles. Sure, the US has Pegasus and Virgin Orbit, but do they have a MiG29 launching a modified air-to-air missile to orbit like Celestia Aerospace from Spain? Then, of course, you have more “traditional” air-launched approaches being pursued by Dark in France and Gaia Aerospace in Germany, the latter of which is proposing a rapidly reusable vehicle with an integrated fairing.
Then there is the variety in approaches to propulsion. We have hybrid engines, aerospike engines, and even hybrid aerospike engines. And, of course, we can’t forget about Germany’s HyImpulse which is using candle wax for their hybrid rocket motor. Yup, the stuff you burn at home when the lights go out.
Now for the really insane options. Sidereus Space Dynamics is proposing a tiny single stage to orbit vehicle capable of deploying a payload of just 30kgs. The company bills its solution as the personal computer of the launch world. Plus, we can’t forget Arca Space. Depending on who you ask, Arca is either changing the world or is overpromising on unproven technology with their steam-powered launch vehicle.
To be fair, this doesn’t represent the entire market. Most of the companies leading the pack have opted for a mostly traditional setup, although Rocket Factory Augsburg may take exception to call their staged combustion engine a traditional setup. Isar, Orbex, Skyrora, PLD Space, and Venture Orbital, however, are all pursuing fairly straightforward multi-engine designs not dissimilar to the Rocket Lab Electron.
Although the novel approaches are unproven and many are likely to fail, it is nonetheless great for Europe that these companies exist. It’s a sign that the continent is looking for disruptive technology that could allow them to leapfrog the competition, much like SpaceX has done with reuse.
Getting ready to ride - Italian space logistics and transportation company D-Orbit has signed a contract with Beyond Gravity to supply structural components for the European Space Agency's reusable Space Rider vehicle. The maiden flight of Space Rider is expected to be launched aboard a Vega-C towards the end of 2023.
Where one door closes, another opens - Following an "extraordinary session" of the ESA ministerial-level council in Paris this week, the agency took steps to further cut ties with Russia. Steps taken included pulling out of Luna-25, 26, and 27 which were a series of lunar orbiters and landers slated to be launched between 2022 and 2025. The agency is working with NASA and Japan’s JAXA to move the experiments that were to be carried aboard those vehicles to other missions.
You get an engine. You get an engine. You all get an engine! - ESA has announced that Avio and Arianespace have secured enough of the Ukrainian-built RD-843 rocket engines that power the Vega-C light launch vehicle for all missions scheduled in 2022 and 2023. In the meantime, the agency is working with the pair to secure an alternative that will serve as a bridge until the debut of Vega-E in 2026.
False hope? - ESA has revealed that power to the beleaguered Sentinel-1B satellite was restored for 4.4 seconds before turning off again. Sentinel-1B suffered an anomaly affecting its power systems in December that forced it out of service. Although this most recent development sounds positive, agency officials revealed that it likely indicates the degradation of key hardware. The agency, as a result, remains pessimistic that recovery efforts will ultimately be successful.
Magic school bus in space - French newspace company Exotrail has announced that its first SpaceVan orbital transfer vehicle will be launched aboard a Falcon 9 rideshare mission in October 2023. The vehicle will allow for several small satellites to be deployed into the kind of precise orbits normally reserved for dedicated launch services.
How’s my bush looking? - German thermal remote sensing startup ConstellR has purchased Belgian hyperspectral startup ScanWorld with the goal of offering actionable data to customers in the agricultural industry. ScanWorld's hyperspectral product development know-how will complement ConstellR thermal infrared and data processing capabilities. The company is planning to begin offering a public-facing imaging product to customers within the next month.
One fund to rule them all - French private equity firm Audacia and startup accelerator Starburst have partnered to launch a venture capital fund called Expansion. The new fund is expected to be as large as €300 million and plans to raise an initial €100 million by the end of 2022. Expansion will invest in French aero, space, and defense startups from seed to series B.
We all love some well-endowed hardware - German launch startup RFA revealed the first images of its Helix closed-cycle rocket engine for the first time. In addition to the first completed engine, another three Helix engines are currently being assembled. A total of nine first-stage Helix engines and one vacuum-optimized engine will power the RFA One, which the company expects to debut later this year.
Show me the money - French Earth observation startup Prometheus has closed a €4.72 financing round. The funding will be utilised to begin the construction of ProtoMéthée-1, the first satellite of the company's planned nanosatellite constellation. ProtoMéthée-1 is slated to be launched in October 2023.
Ooh, shiny! - Spanish startup Pangea Aerospace launched a new website with an updated Meso rocket design. The new design featured a jump in the max payload capacity from 150 to 400kgs. Additionally, the company revealed that the rocket will be powered by a 300kN methalox aerospike engine called ARCOS based on a smaller engine the company test-fired towards the end of last year.