2022年11月24日

ABL空间系统RS1火箭发射台在阿拉斯加。信贷:ABL系统的首次试飞ABL空间系统的新的小卫星发射器从阿拉斯加比12月早些时候已经被推迟,直到没有技术问题缩短三个在上周推出的尝试。ABL进行三个倒计时一周启动期间太平洋太空船发射降落场复杂的科迪亚克岛,阿拉斯加,试图把雅乐轩公司的第一个RS1火箭,orbital-class发射器用来运输载荷超过一吨到低地球轨道。RS1火箭站高88英尺(27米),并在一行私人研制最新的小卫星发射器。ABL旨在加入火箭实验室,处女轨道,萤火虫航空,阿斯特拉在新一代的商业公司成功发射有效载荷送入轨道。这些公司成功地到达轨道的第一次尝试。ABL并不提供任何公共视频直播报道首次轨道发射,但该公司在Twitter上发布定期更新。11月14日的发射尝试擦洗大约30分钟前起飞时间在推进剂由于意想不到的数据加雷竞技 raybet载RS1的第一阶段,后来发现是由于泄漏阀在增压系统。第二次发射尝试11月17日期间中止在起飞前1.8秒点火的九kerosene-fueled E2第一阶段发动机。ABL说中止与调节的液态氧引发了一个问题,使用的低温氧化剂RS1火箭。 Another countdown Monday, Nov. 21, also aborted during engine startup sequence. That was the final launch attempt available to ABL until the company’s next series of launch dates begins Dec. 7. In recent months, ABL teams at Kodiak have completed a static test-firing of the RS1 rocket’s first stage and a series of fuel loading demonstrations to prepare for the first test flight. The two-stage rocket is capable of placing a payload of nearly 3,000 pounds (1,350 kilograms) into a low-altitude equatorial orbit, or about 2,138 pounds (970 kilograms) into a 310-mile-high (500-kilometer) polar orbit, according to ABL. The RS1 rocket’s lift capability puts it on the upper end of the range of new small satellite launch providers, slightly exceeding the performance of Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket, which reached low Earth orbit on its second test flight Oct. 1 following launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. Firefly’s Alpha rocket deployed its CubeSat payloads into a lower-than-expected orbit, and the small satellites soon re-entered the atmosphere. Rocket Lab’s Electron booster, Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne, and Astra’s Rocket 3 launch vehicle have smaller payload capacities. Astra has retired its Rocket 3 vehicle and is now developing a larger launcher called Rocket 4. ABL says a dedicated launch on its RS1 rocket costs $12 million, more than the price of a Rocket Lab mission but below the price of a larger rocket such as SpaceX’s Falcon 9. The scale of the RS1 rocket is “small enough to simplify development, manufacturing, and operations, but large enough to deliver a per-satellite launch cost at a fraction of a smaller vehicle,” ABL says. Founded in 2017, ABL is headquartered in El Segundo, California, and is backed by venture capital funds and money from Lockheed Martin. ABL reported a valuation of $2.4 billion last year during its most recent fundraising round, with a backlog of more than 75 missions, primarily from a bulk order of up to 58 launches from Lockheed Martin. ABL also has a contract to launch a NASA small satellite tech demo mission, and is one of 13 companies in NASA’s roster of providers for venture-class launch services. The U.S. Space Force added ABL to its roster of 11 companies eligible to win contracts to launch the military’s small satellite payloads over a nine-year period. For its first test flight, ABL’s RS1 rocket will fly south from Kodiak Island over the Pacific Ocean with two small shoebox-size CubeSats for OmniTeq, a Texas-based company that provides rideshare launch services with plans to deploy a constellation of small satellites to provide maritime communications services. ABL aims to release the two small satellites into a polar orbit.