Posts by Wingnut29 5 publicly visible posts • joined 28 Oct 2021
you're a tad out of date/incorrect there.
cornwall was a runway before VO went into administration and orbex is a vertical launcher only capable of 250kg to polar orbit from scotland, when they get round to launching anything more than they're pr pyschobable. rfa (aka 'the germans') will launch upto 1.5t from shetland but they will max out at 4t to leo from norway, so hardly in competition with ariane 6.
apples and boiled sweets as they say...
Because Portugal has a new space agency (2 years old) and it has a mandate to succeed and has committed to developing a fit-for-purpose supply chain for launch. It did this for the aerospace sector and achieved a sustainable capability in ten years. Likewise, Norway with the Andoya launchsite has received a major gov bung. UK Launch has received naff all and over half of it went to Virgin Didn't. Who have squandered on it salaries in the US as far as i can tell.
Except the Portugal launch capability is not yet ready nor are the LV's which wiull fly from there. In fact, the main LV flying from Portugal now (Since, let's face VO is about to go into administration) is RFA from Munich. And their maiden flight will be from... Saxavord in the Shetlands.. there we have it.
As an ex propulsion engineer, I'd disagree with you. A splash HTP will set your shirt on fire if it's made of cotton. The same safety gear - SCAPE suits - are an absolute must just as they are for hydrazine et al. Plus of course, your hair turns a weird shade of white...
I'd agree. Whilst HTP is going through a bit of a renaissance period with in Europe, it is unpleasant stuff for human beings and smart prop engineers tend to give it a wide berth. Saying that the returnable Ariane 6 stage will use HTP for the attitude control system, but as you indicate, you just have to smile at the stuff and it'll set you alight.
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