Dear readers,
Every summer Copenhagen Suborbitals sails out in the Baltic Sea launching rockets. Everyone of these rockets are experimental and by nature not necessarily big. Our last launch of the Sapphire rockets was an active guidance demonstrator - and a big success with "only" a length of app. 6 meters.
Due to the success of the guidance system we are going to repeat such a test - next summer - but with our HEAT2X rocket aiming for almost 100 km. This will give us data on full-burn engine performance and data on re-entry using a scaled-down capsule.
But as you know this is a manned space program and full scale work was already begun last year - with the capsule boilerplate Tycho Deep Space II. During spring of 2013 we revealed the final design of the rocket carrying a man into space on a suborbital trajectory - the HEAT1600/TDS-II.
I like creating these drawings - but drawings like these are only worth something if they are actually being materialized. This week Peter Madsen has been working the LOX tank (see image above) creating the first section and end-cap of this structure. Long time ago he decided to work the end-caps as facets which are an easy and cheap way of using laser cut parts which are bend and welded together.
During this weekend this structure was created and we have surely entered the major league of DIY space rocketry.
Some things get harder and tougher when you go big like this - other things become much easier. Inspection, installation of subsystems are relative easy with these sizes, just like we have experienced with full size capsules compared to working small payloads for test-rockets.
But things are getting big now and very exciting.
I like big and excitement!
Ad Astra
Kristian von Bengtson
