At 07:27 on January 10, 2022 Beijing time, the RS1 carrier rocket carrying two satellites such as VariSat 1A and 1B was launched from the launch station of the Pacific Spaceport on Kodiak Island, Alaska, and the launch mission failed due to the simultaneous shutdown of 9 first-stage engines, the rocket returned to the launch pad and started the program to self-destruct.
VariSat 1A and 1B CubeSats from OmniTeq, Texas, with a mass of about 24 pounds (11 kg) each, used these high-frequency ocean data communications satellites to test and acquire flight data as part of a demonstration mission. The VariSat series of satellites consists of 3 satellites, of which VariSat 1C was successfully launched on the Falcon 9 rocket on May 25, 2022.
The RS1 rocket is a small two-stage liquid launch vehicle developed by California-based ABL Space System, designed for small satellite launches. The arrow has a diameter of 1.8 meters, and the core stage is equipped with 9 E2 liquid oxygen kerosene engines, which are RP-1/Jet-A fuel (high refined kerosene/American standard aviation kerosene), gas generator cycle, turbopump driven engine, single sea level thrust 5.5 tons, core second stage equipped with one E2 engine with vacuum thrust 5.9 tons. The RS1 is 26.8 meters long, has a takeoff thrust of about 49 tons, and has a low Earth orbit (LEO) carrying capacity of 2975 pounds (1350 kg).
Based on a simplified design, the RS1 rocket and its ground support system (GSO) are easy to transport and deploy, and both RS1 and GSO can be loaded in standard containers and can be launched anywhere in the world with concrete hardened horizontal ground. Currently, the single-engine RS1 is priced at $12 million, a relatively low launch price, and the Rocket Lab Electron rocket is priced at about $7.5 million per launch, with the latter LEO capacity of about 660 pounds (300 kilograms).
At present, ABL has signed a significant number of launch orders with the payload party. As early as the second half of 2021, the contract it signed included more than 75 launch missions, indicating that the market is optimistic about the development prospects of the rocket. To this day, ABL has added a bit of mystery to the lack of clarity about what "ABL" represents.
The launch is the first launch of the RS1 rocket and Pacific Spaceport in 2023, the fourth launch of American Space this year and the sixth launch of World Space. Due to the immaturity of the new and first flight rockets, two of the six launches of the world's space space so far have failed, with a success rate of only 67%, reflecting the high-risk side of space launches. However, new rockets need to go through a process of technological maturity, and continue to work hard!
Author: Dabai Gao Guo