What would be Brazil’s first orbital launch, carried out by the South Korean startup Innospace, from the Alcântara launch center, in Maranhão, suffered an anomaly during the flight, just under two minutes after takeoff, Monday evening (22).
The launch of the Hanbit-Nano rocket began at 22:13, and the stages of exceeding the speed of sound (Mach 1) and the moment of maximum aerodynamic pressure were recorded, when the image was cut off at the control center and information about the anomaly appeared on the screen. It’s still unclear exactly what went wrong, but the vehicle was lost and the transmission was cut off shortly after the failure.
Judging from the timing of the interruption, the failure occurred in the propelled phase of the first stage. With this failure, this launch joins three other VLS-1 (Satellite Launch Vehicle) attempts, carried out in 1997, 1999 and 2003, which also failed to reach orbit.
Despite the frustration, it should be emphasized that such a result is completely normal and expected, in the case of a new launcher, during its first flight test.
Before that, Innospace had already launched, also from Alcântara, the Hanbit-TLV, a smaller single-stage prototype, in March 2023. With a suborbital profile (in which the rocket reaches space, but not with the speed necessary to place artifacts in orbit), the flight was aimed precisely at testing the systems that would be incorporated into the first stage of the Hanbit-Nano. On this occasion, the launch was successful.
Reports
Operation Spaceward, so named jointly by Innospace and the Brazilian Air Force (which manages the Alcântara center), was initially scheduled to take off last Thursday (17), a date which was postponed two other times (to the 19 and 22), due to various problems during the preparation of the rocket – from the lack of electrical power to the platform to a problem with one of the rocket’s valves, including bad weather conditions.
It was also the bad weather – rain on Monday afternoon – which pushed the launch operations until the end of the night, with the assembly of the rocket (which is initially brought to the “prone” platform), the verification of the on-board and ground systems and the refueling operations.
The Hanbit-Nano is a two-stage rocket 21 meters long. The first of these is powered by a hybrid engine combining paraffin and liquid oxygen – this combination simplifies its operation. The second has an engine powered by liquid methane and oxygen. Apparently, it was not even possible to test the second stage in flight, as it failed prematurely. The onboard payloads (five Brazilian nanosatellites and three experiments) were also lost.
Innospace engineers will now analyze the valuable data collected during the test so that they can correct the problems and try again, although it is not yet clear when this might happen.
The South Korean company is so far the only one to have obtained a launch license from Alcântara to reach an operational phase. The Brazilian center offers a considerable advantage, especially for small rockets, because of its proximity to the equator: just 2.3 degrees south, it allows launchers to save fuel thanks to the Earth’s faster rotation in the equatorial belt — it’s as if the planet itself is giving the rocket an extra helping hand to reach the speed needed to stay in orbit, around 27,000 km/h.
About The Author
