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HyImpulse hybrid rocket motor roars to life for the first time
HyImpulse completed the first hot-fire test of the company’s 16,800-pounds-force hybrid rocket motor on Sept. 15. Credit: HyImpulse
SpaceNews
VALLETTA, Malta — Launch startup HyImpulse successfully tested its 16,800-pounds-force hybrid rocket motor this month at German space agency DLR’s Lampoldshausen facility.
Headquartered in Neuenstadt am Kocher, Germany, HyImpulse is developing its three-stage SL1 launch vehicle designed to carry payloads of up to 500 kilogram to Sun-synchronous orbit. The light-lift launch vehicle will be powered by twelve 16,800-pounds-force hybrid rocket motors — eight on its first stage, and four on its second stage — plus four smaller but otherwise identical engines powering its third stage.
The HyImpulse-developed hybrid rocket motor is powered by a paraffin-based fuel and liquid oxygen. The motor is designed to make use of simpler hardware than a liquid-fueled system while offering greater safety than strictly solid-fueled motors.
HyImpulse said that the Sept. 15 hot-fire test, its first, confirmed that the paraffin/LOX hybrid rocket engine performed on par with liquid hydrocarbon-based fuels. This performance was achieved utilizing a simpler propulsion system than liquid-fueled rocket engines — which lends itself to reliability — at a fraction of the cost.
In addition to the hot-fire test being an important milestone on the company’s road to the launchpad, it was also an important step in HyImpulse’s bid to win a DLR-led competition for small launch funding.
HyImpulse, backed by German tech company IABG, is developing a three-stage rocket for small satellite launches. Credit: HyImpulse/Fernanda Francisca Photography
The European Space Agency announced July 15 HyImpulse along with Isar Aerospace and the OHB-backed Rocket Factory Augsburg
had received the support of DLR for the submission of a funding proposal for Boost! – ESA’s commercial space transportation services and support program – requesting co-funding of 500,000 euros, a portion of which will be supplied by the companies themselves, according to ESA spokesman Julio Aprea. The money would help fund development activities leading to two test launches between 2022 and 2023. ESA is currently evaluating the proposals submitted by the three companies, Aprea said.
DLR is expected to award 11 million euros ($12.7 million) in funding to one of the three companies in 2021. A second 11 million euros in funding is expected to then be awarded in 2022 to stimulate Germany’s small launch development.
In the run up to the 2021 award, HyImpulse will look to utilize a single 16,800-pounds-force hybrid rocket motor to power a sounding rocket launched from the Esrange Space Center in Sweden in March. The company then expects to launch the maiden SL1 flight in 2022.
HyImpulse is a DLR spinoff founded in 2018 out of the chemical propulsion center of the German space agency’s Lampoldshausen facility. It is funded by Rudolf Schwarz, chairman of German technology company IABG, and has a 2.5 million-euro grant from the European Commission to advance its launcher technology. The company aims to offer frequent, reliable and low-cost access to space.
Correction: An earlier version of this story said that HyImpulse, Isar Aerospace and Rocket Factory Augsburg each received 500,000 euros in funding this summer under the European Space Agency’s Boost! program. ESA is still evaluating proposals.
SpaceNews
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