A German company’s hopes of launching the UK’s first vertical rocket into orbit this year may have been extinguished, after the first stage of its rocket exploded during a hot-fire test at the SaxaVord spaceport in Shetland, UK.
Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA) conducted a static-fire test of RFA One, a small liquid-fuelled launch vehicle, on 19 August hoping for a smooth demonstration, as it had experienced in the previous test completed in May. Unfortunately for RFA, this time had quite the opposite result. Video footage of a dramatic explosion, from the BBC, appeared to show flames spurt out from the side of the rocket before the vehicle was engulfed and destroyed. This could indicate a propellant line pipework failure of some kind took place. The RFA investigation will find out whether this is true.
RFA’s official statement. Courtesy: X (formerly Twitter)
The RFA One is a three-stage vehicle designed to deliver payloads of up to 1300 kg to a 500 km sun-synchronous orbit, 450 kg to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) or 150 kg to a cis-lunar trajectory. In 2019, the company began the development of its turbopump and qualified the upper-stage tank. In 2021, it conducted its first eight-second duration hot-fire test and qualification of the main LOX/kerosene engine, named Helix, along with cryogenic pressure testing and qualification of the first stage. By 2022, a total of 74 seconds of hot-fire testing of the engine in flight configuration had been completed without having to replace any components.
RFA’s rocket goes up in flames. Courtesy: BBC
Update on 28 August: In a candid move RFA shared an update a week after its failed test, as well as raw close-up footage of the explosion. Dr Stefan Brieschenk, COO and a co-founder of RFA, asked viewers to “Enjoy the footage”, adding, rather tongue-in-cheek, that: “It is very spectacular and it has cost us quite some money to generate.”
The update the company is unlikely to be so jovial about is that its plans for a maiden flight this year have been upended after the explosion. The inaugural launch of RFA One will instead take place in 2025.
