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Launch video with timestamp, https://youtu.be/bykfQ3J4NNc?t=2049 edit: And different camera angles here, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlAgenP2RxM https://tv.vg.no/nyheter/se-den-historiske-rakettoppskytning...
Why does the first video just cut to nothing for the most exciting part, the fall?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Looks like it was completely successful. They willingly terminated the launch after achieving mission goals.
"Completely successful" would've been reaching orbit. They didn't expect to get that far, but this was still a far cry from a complete success. Only milestones cleared are countdown, launch, and stable flight in fixed attitude - which still leaves a lot of big ones on the way to orbit (controlled pitchover, max-Q, stage sep, second stage ignition and operation, payload fairing separation, orbital insertion, payload s…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
By just looking at the video, you can see that they cut the engines after the rocket starts tilting. I guess that’s the flight termination system. Also, it didn't fall into the ground, but into the water.
> Also, it didn't fall into the ground, but into the water. Ah yes very important distinction this
The first orbital launch attempt from continental Europe, and the first of Europe’s batch of newspace commercial launch startups. I hope they figure out what happened and iterate quickly!
I think that should be "first commercial orbital launch attempt from continental Europe". Commercial is required to exclude launches from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, orbital is required to exclude the Miura 1 attempt, Europe is required for obvious reasons & continental is required to exclude the LauncherOne attempt, and attempt is required for obvious reasons.
> CEO and Co-founder Daniel Metzler: “Our first test flight met all our expectations, achieving a great success. We had a clean liftoff, 30 seconds of flight and even got to validate our Flight Termination System. With this result, we feel confident to approach our second flight.” See: https://isaraerospace.com/newsroom-first-test-flight
Does the flight termination system consist of the rocket free-falling into the ground resulting in a fiery explosion?
Is this rocket „dual use“?
If your enemy is your employer and their launchpad infrastructure—yes! Less jokingly: liquid-fueled rockets aren't very practical weapons, especially ones with cryogenic fuels like liquid oxygen. I highly recommend Clark's Ignition! An Informal History of Liquid Rocket Propellants for a history of the space and missile races, as understood from the point-of-view of a propellant chemist who worked in them. There's an…
There were generations of hypergolic liquid fueled ICBMs. Those are typically pretty reasonably responsive (and reliable). Unfortunately the fuel is toxic as hell.
Europe does have native solid booster capability. The Vega-C has solid rocket motors for the first 3 stages for example. Very crudely looking at sizes, the 2nd and 3rd stages of a Vega-C should more or less approximate a typical ICBM.
> CEO and Co-founder Daniel Metzler: “Our first test flight met all our expectations, achieving a great success. We had a clean liftoff, 30 seconds of flight and even got to validate our Flight Termination System. With this result, we feel confident to approach our second flight.” See: https://isaraerospace.com/newsroom-first-test-flight
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Looks like it was completely successful. They willingly terminated the launch after achieving mission goals.
Tilting the rocket didn't work as intended though, so something did go seriously wrong.
The first orbital launch attempt from continental Europe, and the first of Europe’s batch of newspace commercial launch startups. I hope they figure out what happened and iterate quickly!