ARCA unveils its Google Lunar X Prize rocket

by | Dec 23, 2008 | commercial launch services, exploration, Technology | 3 comments

The Aeronautics and Cosmonautics Romanian Association (ARCA) has unveiled its rocket for getting its Moon roaming European Lunar Explorer vehicle to the planetoid with engine tests planned for next year and a first flight in 2011

Named after an Austro-Romanian scientist you can read details of the new hybrid propulsion three-stage rocket that will be launched by balloon here and see a gallery of images of the launcher here

ARCA says its Haas is able to place 400kg (880lb) into a low Earth orbit of 200km (124miles) and that would see a 100kg vehicle sent on a Moon trajectory.

The rocket uses a pressure fed oxidiser, hydrogen peroxide, in composite tanks with a bitumen based solid fuel. The first stage has a 245s specific impulse with a large nozzle because of its high altitude baloon drop launch approach

ARCA Haas booster.JPG

credit: ARCA

I have to admit I haven’t been really following the Google Lunar X prize because we here at Flight do the truck, not the payload and I hadn’t seen any info on launcher choices from the prize’s competitors

I was guessing that they would use Space Exploration Technologies’ Falcon 9 or a Russian booster. If any group out there wants to talk to Hyperbola about their powered descent system we are all ears. ARCA has some tantalising details about a monopropellant descent rocket operating from a 10km altitude drop but there is very little detail

Its not obvious from the material ARCA has how their ELE vehicle will move across the lunar surface. If any of the Google Lunar X Prize teams have a designs for a lunar hopper Hyperbola would appreciate an exclusive interview about that

At the European Space Agency’s ministerial meeting in November it was announced that the Romanian government was seeking to join ESA

About Seradata

Seradata produce the renowned Seradata database. Trusted by over 100 of the world’s leading Space organisations, Seradata is a fully queryable database used for market analysis, failure/risk assessment, spectrum analysis and space situational awareness (SSA).

For more information go to https://www.seradata.com/product/

Related Articles

Categories

Archives

Tags

nasaspacexecoreviewsissesaArianespacevideochinaFalcon 9v1.2FT Block 525virgin galacticULAfalcon 9RoscosmosevaDGAspacewalkaviation weekaressoyuzIGTInternational Space StationRocket LabBeidouawardsBlue OriginStarlinkspaceSatellite broadcastingrussiamoonboeingAirbus DSISROCargo Return VehicleresearchOneWebmarsblogspaceshiptwojaxaorionmarsimpactdelayhyperbolaEutelsatdemocratrocketlunarhypertextobamagoogle lunar prizelaunchVegabarack obamaconstellationSEStourismnorthfiguresthales alenia spacespaceflightnode 2fundedIntelsatRaymond Lygo2009Lockheed MartinExpress MD-2Elon MuskAtlas Vromess2dassault aviationaviationLucy2008wk2sstlukradiomissilesuborbitaldocking portexplorationAriane 5 ECAVirgin OrbittestinternetLong March 2D/2sts-122Ariane 5Northrop GrummanSLSChina Manned Space EngineeringElectronflightspace tourism2010cotsnewspapermissile defensegalileospaceportExpress AMU 1Long March 4Cbuildspace stationaltairsoyuz 2-1aProton Minternational astronautical congressshuttlespace shuttleEuropean Space AgencyLauncherOneCosmosIntelsat 23scaled compositesnew yorkrulesAriane 6hanleybudgetatvVietnamshenzhoucongressMojaveboldenLong March 2COrbital ATKInmarsatcnesnew shepardiaclunar landerGuiana Space CenterkscApollolawsSpace Systems/LoralUK Space AgencyLong March 4BKuaizhou 1AILSprotonUS Air ForceTalulah RileydarpaElectron KSFalcon 9v1.2 Block 5Vega CeuAstriumSkylonpicturebaseusaastronautdragonlanderfiveeventTelesatNorth KoreaSSLAprilSNC50thinterviewLong MarchSea LaunchfalconWednesdaycustomerlinkatlantissuccessor