The Rocket Factory Augsburg company conducted strength tests of the promising RFA One rocket. The first flight of the carrier is scheduled for the end of the year.
German startup Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA) has completed another test of its RFA One rocket. During the tests, the prototype of the first stage passed cryogenic pressure tests. The company showed a video of it collapsing after refueling with cryogenic nitrogen. The tests are designed to check the quality of the assembly and determine the pressure that the structure can withstand.
This is the last stage for the company, which aims to develop a reusable rocket for small payloads. The first flight of the RFA One was scheduled for the end of the year.
You can't make an omelette without breaking eggs! With our cryogenic burst test we pushed the #limits of our first stage design and #successfully demonstrated the strengthening of our steel alloy under cryo conditions!A new first stage is already in the pipeline. On we go! ? pic.twitter.com/Qih6EEMWrQ
- Rocket Factory Augsburg (@rfa_space) August 27, 2021
Earlier, Rocket Factory Augsburg conducted fire tests of its carrier's engine at a test site in Sweden. This year, it also became known about the decision of RFA to purchase rocket engines produced by the Ukrainian Yuzhmash.
RFA One is a relatively small launch vehicle with a height of 30 meters and a diameter of two meters. The first stage is equipped with nine engines, the specific type of which is not yet called. It is assumed that the RFA One carrier will be able to launch a cargo weighing up to 450 kilograms into a geotransfer orbit.
The final goal of the company is to reuse the first stage. Meanwhile, it is not yet clear exactly how they plan to do this.
RFA One
Image source: Rocket Factory Augsburg
SpaceX uses for similar purposes a vertical landing with the use of engines and lattice rudders. At the same time, Rocket Lab chose a parachute landing system for its Electron rocket. It has not yet been fully worked out, but several times Rocket Lab was able to return the first stage after launch.
Rocket Factory Augsburg was founded in 2018 as a subsidiary of OHB Corporation. It is based in Augsburg, a university city in the southwest of the Free State of Bavaria.
Now they are working more and more actively on reusable rockets in different countries. Russia was no exception. Recently, the Progress Rocket and Space Center, part of Roscosmos, prepared a preliminary draft of a promising reusable methane carrier Amur-LNG. Most research institutes have already issued their positive conclusions.
According to the plans, the engines of the promising Amur-LNG rocket will be launched up to 50 times. Presumably, after 2026, the carrier will be able to replace the entire family of Soyuz-2 missiles.