Post-Flight Analysis of a Hybrid Test Rocket Flight
- Paper number
IAC-08.C4.2.7
- Author
Mr. Jan-Erik Rønningen, Nammo Raufoss, Norway
- Year
2008
- Abstract
On 3.May 2007 Nammo Raufoss (NARA) in cooperation with Lockheed Martin Michoud Operations (LMMO) and Andøya Rocket Range (ARR) successfully launched a Hybrid Test Rocket (HTR) from Andøya, Norway. The launch marked the first professional hybrid rocket launch from Norway. The rocket was powered by a hybrid rocket motor using a combination of liquid oxygen and a rubber based fuel. The rocket itself was about 10.6 meter long and had an outer diameter of ø250 millimetre. The fuelled-up mass before lift-off was about 470 kilogram. The rocket payload consisted of sensors for monitoring the hybrid rocket motor as well as sensors for obtaining the rocket trajectory and attitude. In addition, the payload included a TV camera for live coverage of parts of the flight. On ground the rocket was followed by several telemetry antennas for receiving the flight data. The HTR rocket flight is regarded to be a complete success although the target altitude of 27 kilometres was not reached. The obtained apogee was recorded to be 13 kilometres. Post-flight analyses gave reasonable explanations for this observed difference in performance. The main reason was that the rocket lost some amount of liquid oxygen during a hold in the count-down after fill-disconnect removal. The rocket could from that time no longer be re-filled and therefore lost about “four seconds” of oxygen due to boiling and evaporation. Other than that the rocket performed as expected and delivered valuable flight and rocket motor data. The paper will give a brief introduction to the HTR rocket system and what sensors that was on-board. In addition some results will be discussed based on the recorded data from the rocket motor and from the rocket flight itself.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-08.C4.2.7.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
To get the manuscript, please contact IAF Secretariat.