Spaceflight Now said that the Operationally Responsive Space office of Air Force has spent over $45 million on the development of the Super Strypi mission.
Advertisement
The launch of the first satellite from Hawaii went awry Tuesday when the experimental Super Strypi launch vehicle failed midflight, according to the Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles Air Force Base.
The rocket disintegrated approximately one minute after launch.
Super Strypi launched from the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Missile Range Facility at 10:45 p.m. EST.
In addition to Aerojet, Sandia National Laboratories and the University of Hawaii developed the rocket. Video footage of the event shows the rocket spiraling out of control as it falls back down to Earth, leaving a crooked contrail in its wake.
The Super Strypi, also known as the Spaceborne Payloads Assist Rocket Kauai (SPARK), is supposed to operate as a launch platform for the Low Earth Orbiting Nanosatellite Integrated Defense Autonomous System (LEONIDAS) program, called to provide the US Department of Defense with a low-cost system to deliver small payloads into orbit.
A 67-foot military-funded rocket that blasted off a rail launcher at the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai at 5:45 p.m. today in Hawaii’s first satellite launch failed shortly after takeoff.
The three-stage flight was scheduled to carry UH’s HiakaSat satellite and 12 or more much smaller satellites. “Hiaka” means “to recite legends or fabulous stories” in Hawaiian, the university said. “The University of Hawaii has been critical to bringing this capability to fruition”. Altogether, there have been five unsuccessful launches over 50 years, with the previous failure taking place in 1995. But the Pentagon is interested in a method to quickly replenish satellites, particularly as competition from other countries gains strength. More recently, the satellite launch was set for Thursday, then Friday and Monday before today’s launch.
Advertisement
The rocket is launched from a tilted, truss-mounted rail system, a technology that previously had been used for smaller, sub-orbital rockets.
