Hi!
At this moment, there's a couple of companies who try to be first in launching microsattelites at $25k per sattelite.
One of those companies is Vector space systems : https://vectorspacesystems.com/
However I have some questions about their claims to be able to send satellites into space as early as 2018.
They seem to plan to use a 2 stage hybrid rocket with propylene and liquid oxygen.
More info in an interview with the founder:
https://youtu.be/MlY09YT7Pyo?t=12m8s
They have info about 2 models; vector-R and vector-H. The vector-R is aimed at bringing 66kg payloads to LEO, the vector-H is for 160kg payloads and the latter would cost $1,5M.
My question; is it realistic to put a 160kg payload in low earth orbit with a $1,5M rocket? They only have raised a 'limited' amount of capital (at this point maybe $30M), much less than what I would expect that a company needs to accomplish their goal. Besides that they plan to reuse their rockets, something that only SpaceX has been able to do just now.
SpaceX's Falcon 1 development cost $90M for a rocket whom's first test launch delivered a 180kg payload to LEO. And the price in 2009 was stated to be $7-$8.5 million, so in that perspective the business model seems to be at least somewhat viable, considering the Falcon 1 has a max LEO payload of 670kg.
I would like to calculate what kind of size/weight a 2-stage rocket needs to be to deliver such a payload but I lack the knowledge to do so.
According to the formulas I can find I calculated a single stage rocket with dv=9000m/s, isp=320 (guesstimation) and payload 130 kg would need 3822kg of fuel but that is excluding the empty weight of the rocket, hence why I don't think it is possible for a 5000kg rocket to deliver 160kg to LEO, and I don't think a small rocket is cost efficient for delivering payloads to LEO in the first place.
A test launch of their Vector-R model, an even smaller model which is aimed at 66kg payloads:
[video=youtube;IZYZgL_ZQ_w]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZYZgL_ZQ_w[/video]
A video going a bit more in depth about technical details of their models:
[video=youtube;B41X4TwQJRE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B41X4TwQJRE[/video]
Some extra info about series A funding:
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-rel...ecures-21m-in-series-a-funding-300482179.html
At this moment, there's a couple of companies who try to be first in launching microsattelites at $25k per sattelite.
One of those companies is Vector space systems : https://vectorspacesystems.com/
However I have some questions about their claims to be able to send satellites into space as early as 2018.
They seem to plan to use a 2 stage hybrid rocket with propylene and liquid oxygen.
More info in an interview with the founder:
https://youtu.be/MlY09YT7Pyo?t=12m8s
They have info about 2 models; vector-R and vector-H. The vector-R is aimed at bringing 66kg payloads to LEO, the vector-H is for 160kg payloads and the latter would cost $1,5M.
My question; is it realistic to put a 160kg payload in low earth orbit with a $1,5M rocket? They only have raised a 'limited' amount of capital (at this point maybe $30M), much less than what I would expect that a company needs to accomplish their goal. Besides that they plan to reuse their rockets, something that only SpaceX has been able to do just now.
SpaceX's Falcon 1 development cost $90M for a rocket whom's first test launch delivered a 180kg payload to LEO. And the price in 2009 was stated to be $7-$8.5 million, so in that perspective the business model seems to be at least somewhat viable, considering the Falcon 1 has a max LEO payload of 670kg.
I would like to calculate what kind of size/weight a 2-stage rocket needs to be to deliver such a payload but I lack the knowledge to do so.
According to the formulas I can find I calculated a single stage rocket with dv=9000m/s, isp=320 (guesstimation) and payload 130 kg would need 3822kg of fuel but that is excluding the empty weight of the rocket, hence why I don't think it is possible for a 5000kg rocket to deliver 160kg to LEO, and I don't think a small rocket is cost efficient for delivering payloads to LEO in the first place.
A test launch of their Vector-R model, an even smaller model which is aimed at 66kg payloads:
[video=youtube;IZYZgL_ZQ_w]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZYZgL_ZQ_w[/video]
A video going a bit more in depth about technical details of their models:
[video=youtube;B41X4TwQJRE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B41X4TwQJRE[/video]
Some extra info about series A funding:
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-rel...ecures-21m-in-series-a-funding-300482179.html
