Kate 2.0 successfully flown to over 142,000 feet

[VernK]

The new Kate 2.0 system was successfully flown to over 142,000 feet by the team of Jim Jarvis, Stu Barrett and Jerry McKinlay at the Balls-28 launch held in the Black Rock desert on Sept 21, 2019. The Kate 2.0 system controlled all flight operations including staging, deployment, GPS tracking and telemetry downlink. It was an outstanding flight! It reached Mach 3.66. The second stage was safely recovered 9.1 miles from the launch pad.

On-board video, photos and flight data are now posted on the Multitronix website. Here is a link.

More information about the new unlimited altitude Kate 2.0 GPS system can be found here.

More information about the Kate 2.0 pyro board that provides deployment and staging capability can be found here.

 

[jderimig]

Awesome. Kudo's Vern!

 

[mpitfield]

Vern, how do you deal with Mach lockout on the GPS?

 

[VernK]

Vern, how do you deal with Mach lockout on the GPS?

I am not quite sure what you are getting at. The Kate 2.0 GPS velocity lockout is about 1700 feet/sec which is roughly Mach 1.5. Anytime the velocity exceeds the GPS lockout the system automatically reverts to using accelerometer velocity instead. However, detecting apogee with the GPS is not an issue since the rocket drops below Mach 1.5 well before apogee. On the other hand, if you want to use GPS tilt as a staging criteria, then you will need to make sure the rocket slows back down to less than Mach 1.5 before attempting to fire the sustainer. If you try to stage above Mach 1.5 then the system automatically reverts to using tilt readings from an on-board 3-axis gyro. Main chute deployment can be easily done with GPS since the descent rate is well below the GPS lockout. However, if GPS is unavailable for some reason then the main will be deployed based on barometric pressure readings. In short, although GPS is the primary "sensor" there are backups that will automatically be used if GPS is not available.

 

[mpitfield]

I am not quite sure what you are getting at.

Possibly a poorly worded question, but you hit all bases with your answer.

 

[cwbullet]

I am not quite sure what you are getting at. The Kate 2.0 GPS velocity lockout is about 1700 feet/sec which is roughly Mach 1.5. Anytime the velocity exceeds the GPS lockout the system automatically reverts to using accelerometer velocity instead. However, detecting apogee with the GPS is not an issue since the rocket drops below Mach 1.5 well before apogee. On the other hand, if you want to use GPS tilt as a staging criteria, then you will need to make sure the rocket slows back down to less than Mach 1.5 before attempting to fire the sustainer. If you try to stage above Mach 1.5 then the system automatically reverts to using tilt readings from an on-board 3-axis gyro. Main chute deployment can be easily done with GPS since the descent rate is well below the GPS lockout. However, if GPS is unavailable for some reason then the main will be deployed based on barometric pressure readings. In short, although GPS is the primary "sensor" there are backups that will automatically be used if GPS is not available.

This is an amazing product. Thanks for bringing it to market.

 

[prfesser]

Impressive flight and impressive piece of equipment. Kate rocks!