German startup ATMOS Space Cargo has conducted the first test of its PHOENIX 1 capsule to test the stability of the heat shield during re-entry. However, due to changes in SpaceX’s mission, the dream of obtaining key data turned out to be a failure.
The capsule was launched on April 22 on a Falcon 9 rocket as part of the Bandwagon-3 mission. On board with it were a South Korean military satellite and a weather device from Boston. However, due to the prioritization of the Korean cargo, the flight path was changed five weeks before launch. This disrupted ATMOS’ plans: the capsule’s new return route was over South America, not Africa as expected.
PHOENIX 1 was originally scheduled to enter the atmosphere over the Indian Ocean, where it would wait for ground stations and a special aircraft to collect data. But because of the new trajectory, the capsule began its descent over Los Angeles and fell into the Atlantic Ocean 500 kilometers off the Brazilian coast. The remoteness of the drop zone made it impossible to search for it, and therefore to obtain video footage and detailed indicators.
Bits of data
Despite this, the startup has gotten limited data from the four commercial cargoes on board. Preliminary analysis confirmed that the inflatable heat shield withstood the extreme loads. “It was a success for the technology, but a failure for the mission,” the experts ironically noted.
ATMOS CEO Sebastian Klaus said the mission was still a step forward. “We have proven that we can adapt quickly to change. Next time we will set up beacons to search,” he added.
This case highlights the risks of co-launches, where the priorities of big players often affect smaller projects. However, such missions make space more accessible to startups. The next PHOENIX flight is scheduled for 2025; the company has already received funding from the European Space Agency.
If the following tests are successful, the inflatable heat shield technology could make it 70% cheaper to return cargo from orbit. Nowadays, only SpaceX and a few countries have similar systems.
We previously reported on how DARPA discovered a surprising phenomenon from SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rockets.
According to atmos-space-cargo.com
