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Raumfahrt - Oh No No, There Goes Momo / Japanese startups rocket launch fails

15.06.2020

momo-f5-launch-failing

Momo F5 rocket begins to plunge back to Earth. (Credit: Interstellar Technologies webcast)

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

Interstellar Technologies’ fifth launch of its Momo suborbital rocket went awry on Saturday, with the suborbital booster tumbling out of control just over a minute after lift off from Taiki Aerospace Research Field in Japan.

Video of the flight streamed online showed the rocket suffering what the company has called a failure of attitude control about 1 minute 16 seconds into the flight. The booster pitched over and began plunging toward the ocean.

It was the fifth flight of the booster, which has failed four times. Momo’s lone success came in May 2019 when the rocket reached 113.4 kilometers (70.5 miles), which is above the 100 km (62.1 mile) boundary of space known as the Karman line.

Momo rockets launched in 2017 and 2019 reached only 20 km (12 miles) and 13 km (8.1 miles), respectively, before suffering catastrophic failures.

A Momo launched in June 2018 rose for four seconds before crashing back onto the pad and exploding.

Quelle: Parabolic Arc

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Japanese startup's rocket launch fails

A private rocket launch by a Japanese firm has failed to reach space after liftoff.

Interstellar Technologies, which is based in the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido, launched the 5th version of its "Momo" rocket at 5:15 a.m. on Sunday from a site in the town of Taiki.

The company says the rocket's engine nozzle broke 36 seconds after liftoff and the craft lost balance.

The engine was brought to an emergency stop 34 seconds later.

The rocket fell into the sea about 4 kilometers off the coast after reaching an altitude of 11.5 kilometers.

The company postponed the launch of the "Momo-5" in January due to trouble with its communication equipment. It has since resolved the issue with new parts.

This was the fifth launch of the "Momo" rocket. The third rocket launched in May last year was the only one that reached the target altitude of 100 kilometers.

Company president Inagawa Takahiro said the result was disappointing, and that the firm will look into the cause of the problem.

He added that the next rocket is under construction, and he hopes to continue the launches.

Quelle: NHK

 
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