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Old 11-05-2020, 10:39 PM
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blackshire blackshire is offline
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Default Skyrora XL (links)

Hello All,

The Skyrora firm in the UK (see: https://www.skyrora.com/ ) has developed--and is developing--a series of suborbital and orbital launch vehicles. The largest one, the three-stage Skyrora XL (as well as the suborbital Skylark L) will burn kerosene and HTP (High Test Peroxide [high-purity hydrogen peroxide]), like the British Black Knight and Black Arrow vehicles. In fact, Skyrora acquired the recovered first stage from the Black Arrow R3 vehicle, which placed the United Kingdom's one-and-only self-launched satellite, Prospero, into orbit from Australia's Woomera Range on October 28, 1971. Also:

Looking through the Skyrora XL Payload User's Guide (see: https://i.skyrora.com/main/files/Pa...er_2019.pdf?v31 ), I noticed that its nose cone looks just like the 35 mm (1.378") diameter nose cone (see: https://www.questaerospace.com/35mm...5_16432960.aspx ) that is used in several Quest kits: https://www.questaerospace.com/ .

I hope this information will be helpful.
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Old 11-06-2020, 12:35 AM
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Interesting. More capable (on paper) than a RocketLab Electron.

Also interesting that the Falcon-9 architecture of 9 first stage engines and one second stage engine of the same type but with a vacuum-optimized nozzle seems to be a common thread with all three of these - Skyrora XL, Electron, Falcon-9.
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Old 11-09-2020, 03:01 AM
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blackshire blackshire is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BEC
Interesting. More capable (on paper) than a RocketLab Electron.

Also interesting that the Falcon-9 architecture of 9 first stage engines and one second stage engine of the same type but with a vacuum-optimized nozzle seems to be a common thread with all three of these - Skyrora XL, Electron, Falcon-9.
Thank you. The Skyrora XL has three stages (the third stage, also HTP/kerosene powered https://www.skyrora.com/skyrora-xl , uses a small pressure-fed [instead of pump-fed, as on the first two stages] engine), rather than the more typical two stages; maybe HTP/kerosene's slightly lower energy content (as compared with LOX/kerosene's) is the reason, and:

Rocket Lab's kerolox Electron can--and repeatedly did--reach orbit with two stages. They recently added the green propellant Curie third "kick" stage to increase total capability *and* have stages 2 and 3 re-enter soon and very soon, respectively (the Curie kick stage de-orbits itself after the payload/payloads separate, while the second stage is left in a quickly-decaying elliptical orbit, whose perigee brushes the upper atmosphere), to avoid cluttering up near-Earth space with spent upper stages. Also:

Yes, that--using common engines, nine on the first stage, and one (with a vacuum-optimized nozzle skirt) on the second stage--^does^ seem to have become a trend. (Relativity Space's Terran 1 https://www.relativityspace.com/terran also uses the "9 topped by 1" arrangement, as does ABL Space System's RS1 rocket: https://ablspacesystems.com/ [Astra's www.astra.com & https://astra.com/wp-content/upload...h-Press-Kit.pdf "Rocket 3.X" is the "odd rocket out," using five Delphin first stage engines and one Aether second stage engine].) Using common engines--and the same propellants in all stages--certainly makes sense from the standpoints of development cost, production cost, and fuel & oxidizer costs (buying them in larger quantities, to realize bulk quantity discounts).
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Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see:
http://www.lulu.com/content/paperba...an-form/8075185
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6122050
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6126511
All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com.
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