Update from Rocket Factory Augsburg’s CEO on first stage explosion on launchpad
Link here, but I have embedded his video statement below. He goes into detail about what they now believe happened when the rocket exploded during the static fire test, as well as the limited damage to the launchpad. They do not think the failure was a design flaw, which means it was caused by something that was done while building the engine. The company now plans to use for this first launch the stage that it was building for its second launch, and hopes to launch next year.
There was one little quote from him that tells me the company’s statement prior to the failed test that it could launch “in a matter of weeks” was based solely on its own engineering but was not going to happen. In today’s statement he says, almost as an aside, that “We wanted to launch in the next few weeks or months and this is unfortunately no longer possible.” [emphasis mine]
What the highlighted words tell me is that had this test been successful, Rocket Factory would have been able to stack the rocket and would have been willing to launch quickly. For that schedule to extend into months however could only be for one reason, an expectation that the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) would not issue the launch license immediatley, but would dither as it did with Virgin Orbit (bankrupting that company).
Thus, red tape remains a major obstacle for the next launch. I suspect the CAA — risk adverse as all bureaucracies are — will not be comfortable issuing a new license after this failure, unless Rocket Factory can show unequivocally that it has taken actions that will prevent all such failures in the future, something that is likely impossible.
UPDATE on our S1 test anomaly!
Our first stage is gone – but we have collected a significant amount of data and film footage. After reviewing it, we want to share some insights into the technical analysis, preliminary conclusions and our next steps ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/FnGHjTCS2g
— Rocket Factory Augsburg (@rfa_space) August 23, 2024
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Link here, but I have embedded his video statement below. He goes into detail about what they now believe happened when the rocket exploded during the static fire test, as well as the limited damage to the launchpad. They do not think the failure was a design flaw, which means it was caused by something that was done while building the engine. The company now plans to use for this first launch the stage that it was building for its second launch, and hopes to launch next year.
There was one little quote from him that tells me the company’s statement prior to the failed test that it could launch “in a matter of weeks” was based solely on its own engineering but was not going to happen. In today’s statement he says, almost as an aside, that “We wanted to launch in the next few weeks or months and this is unfortunately no longer possible.” [emphasis mine]
What the highlighted words tell me is that had this test been successful, Rocket Factory would have been able to stack the rocket and would have been willing to launch quickly. For that schedule to extend into months however could only be for one reason, an expectation that the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) would not issue the launch license immediatley, but would dither as it did with Virgin Orbit (bankrupting that company).
Thus, red tape remains a major obstacle for the next launch. I suspect the CAA — risk adverse as all bureaucracies are — will not be comfortable issuing a new license after this failure, unless Rocket Factory can show unequivocally that it has taken actions that will prevent all such failures in the future, something that is likely impossible.
UPDATE on our S1 test anomaly!
Our first stage is gone – but we have collected a significant amount of data and film footage. After reviewing it, we want to share some insights into the technical analysis, preliminary conclusions and our next steps ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/FnGHjTCS2g
— Rocket Factory Augsburg (@rfa_space) August 23, 2024
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News