Sat, Feb 04, 2012
Flight Was Successful, But Main 'Ballute' Did Not Deploy As
Intended
A STIG-A rocket was launched over the weekend by Armadillo
Aerospace from the New Mexico Spaceport Authority's Spaceport
America. The launch took place from Spaceport America's vertical
launch complex on Saturday, January 28, 2012. The research and
development test flight was a non-public, unpublished event at the
request of Armadillo Aerospace, as the company is testing
proprietary advanced launch technologies.
Photo From Rocket Apogee
Saturday’s Armadillo launch successfully lifted off at
approximately 1115 (MDT), which was within the dedicated, five-hour
launch window, and flight data indicates the rocket attained a
maximum altitude of approximately 82-km (~50 miles). A failure of
the ballute (balloonparachute) recovery system meant that the GPS
steerable main parachute could not be deployed as intended, however
the vehicle was successfully recovered within the predicted
operating area and the nose cone and ballute were separately
recovered intact on the Spaceport property.
“This vehicle was the same one that flew on December 4th,
2011 and successfully demonstrated the feasibility of a reusable
rocket,” said Neil Milburn, VP of Program Management for
Armadillo Aerospace. “The altitude achieved in this second
flight was approximately twice that of the earlier flight and again
tested many of the core technologies needed for the proposed manned
reusable suborbital vehicle.”
The images captured by the rocket-mounted camera at apogee also
serve to indicate the spectacular views of the Rio Grande valley
that await future private astronauts.
The next incremental step for Armadillo Aerospace will be a
100-km (~62 miles) plus "space shot" with the successor vehicle
STIG-B, which is provisionally scheduled to launch in early spring
from Spaceport America. (Photo provided by Armadillo Aerospace)
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