Turbo Pump primer from Copenhagen Suborbitals

I really love how Copenhagen Suborbitals has been doing great documentation and almost DIY videos on its rocket building. First we saw their great video on the Tycho Deep Space 1 development  and now the Turbo Pump video.

 

 

Copenhagen Suborbitals LES Test

photo credit : Copenhagen Suborbitals

Preliminary reports say that the Copenhagen Suborbitals Launch Escape test did not perform as expected. The launch was successful but  there were stability problems with the vehicle and it tumbled end over end while still under powered flight. All other aspects of the test worked as expected.

You can view live feeds and more info at Copenhagen Suborbitals Blog at Wired

capsule recovery

 

Copenhagen Suborbitals to test fire its biggest engine to date

On Sunday May 20th Copenhagen Suborbitals will test fire its TM65 Liquid Propellant rocket engine.The engine produces between 65 and 90 KN thrust, which is equivalent to the order of 200,000 horsepower.

The Engine will be fired at 7 pm Copenhagen Time (1pm EDT). Stay tuned here for more detailed info and live feed links on the Copenhagen Suborbitals website.

Copenhagen Suborbitals TM65 Liquid Propellant rocket engine

 

Copenhagen Suborbitals discuss their new rocket engine

“The TM65 Tordenskjold is Copenhagen Suborbitals’s third liquid propellant rocket engine.
The engine produces between 65 and 90 KN trust, which is equivalent to the order af 200,000 Horsepower.
The engine will be tested in may 2012 and will be Copenhagen Suborbitals’s 12th test af a liquid engine.” -CS

 

Will Copenhagen Suborbitals launch tomorrow?

Latest 1pm Friday June 3rd: 

The report is that the craft reached 9 miles  1.5 miles in altitude.
Video of launch

UPDATE CENTER: Successful launch but it looks like it crashed into sea moments later. Major parachute failure.

Floating in Baltic

9:05am and a ladder still on rocket

Launch location east of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea ...and yes they have their own submarine! - image credit: Copenhagen Suborbitals

Copenhagen Suborbitals is listing a 100% chance they will attempt a launch on June 3rd. This will be the second attempt to launch the Tyco Brahe spacecraft. The first attempt failed due to a frozen LOX valve( see hair dryer fail here). The launch is scheduled to occur at 9am Eastern or 3pm Copenhagen time.

LIVE Coverage Information:
LIVE TV, TV2: www.tv2.dk
LIVE Internet coverage: www.ing.dk/live
COMBINED INTERNET ACTIVITY http://raketvenner.dk/launch/
LIVE UPDATED TV2 BORNHOLM www.tv2bornholm.dk

 

Copenhagen Suborbitals on TED

Copenhagen Suborbitals Kristian von Bengtson gives a lecture at TED called “Danes in space”.

 

Copenhagen Suborbitals: Hair dryer fail

When you have a low budget you come up with creative ways to solve specific problems. Unfortunately this creative solution did not work and has postponed the launch until 2011.

You need to keep LOX from freezing. This particular solution used a hair dryer. Unfortunately the hair dryer wasn’t getting enough power and the LOX valve froze up preventing ignition.

Hair Dryer to LOX valve (click to enlarge)

 

Copenhagen Suborbitals: Tycho Brahe-1

UPDATE: Mission called off Sept 5 – frozen LOX valve (read more here)
Live Coverage here

Denmark is trying to be the 4th country to send a man into space.
Imagine standing on top of a rocket your body enclosed in the payload bay and your head within the clear viewing dome that is the nosecone. You have just imagined yourself in the Tycho Brahe-1 spacecraft (also known as MSC).
“It is a pressurized volume providing support for one upright standing/half-sitting person, with a full view through a polymer plexiglas-dome to experience the entire ballistic ride” -Copenhagen Suborbitals

Tycho Brahe-1 spacecraft - image: Copenhagen Suborbitals

Details and great pictures of the Tycho Brahe-1 spacecraft can be seen here.

The team of Peter Madsen and Kristian von Bengtson are hoping to launch the rocket next week from a platform on the Baltic about 20 miles south of Nexo. In the initial launch CS plans to send a 70kg (155 pounds) test dummy at least 100-140 kilometers (62 – 87 miles) up (correction: contrary to original reports first flight will be to only 30km).
The endeavour has been entirely private seeking money from individuals and businesses. The expected cost of a full launch is 50,000 Euros(63,545 dollars).

Test firing of HEAT booster

Check out the giant Graphite nozzle! photo:Copenhagen Suborbital