Capricornio (rocket)

Capricornio was a Spanish satellite launch vehicle developed by the Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial (INTA) in the 1990s.[1] It was expected to be a low cost solution to place up to 70 kg payloads into 600 km polar orbits or 60 to 140 kg payloads into low Earth orbit.

Capricornio
FunctionOrbital launch vehicle
ManufacturerInstituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial (INTA)
Country of originSpain
Size
Height18.25 m (59.9 ft)
Diameter1.00 m (3.28 ft)
Mass15,035 kg (33,147 lb)
Stages3
Capacity
Payload to LEO140 kg (310 lb)
Launch history
StatusCanceled
Launch sitesEl Hierro
First stage – Castor 4B
Motor1 Solid
Thrust429 kN (96,000 lbf)
Burn time61 sec
FuelHTPB
Second stage – Deneb-F
Motor1 Solid
Thrust167.9 kN (37,700 lbf)
Burn time35.6 sec
FuelSolid
Third stage – Mizar-B
Motor1 Solid
Thrust50.29 kN (11,310 lbf)
Burn time33.8 sec
FuelSolid

Development
  • First phase: development of solid motors using the INTA-100 and INTA-300 sounding rockets, launched from the El Arenosillo test range in southern Spain.
  • Second phase: use Capricornio second and third stages as the Argos sounding rocket (originally planned for winter 1998-99[2]).
  • Third phase: first launch of the full Capricornio rocket, carrying a micro-satellite.

Configuration

Three-stage solid propellant launcher. Overall length of 18.25 m, body diameter of 1.0 m and weighs 15,035 kg at launch.

  • Stage 1 contains a Thiokol Castor 4B[3] motor with HTPB solid propellant.
  • Stage 2 contains a motor named Deneb-F.[4]
  • Stage 3 contains a motor named Mizar-B.[4]

Projected flights

The first flight of Capricornio was scheduled to take place from El Hierro Launch Centre[5] in late 1999 or 2000. It would carry two small satellites:[1] Nanosat 01 (developed by the Polytechnic University of Madrid) and Venus (Polytechnic University of Madrid and other universities in Mexico and Argentina).

References
  1. "Capricorno". Astronautix.com. Retrieved 2012-08-20.
  2. "Capricornio project". Sat-net.com. 1998-10-19. Retrieved 2012-08-20.
  3. "Thiokol to Supply Rocket Boosters for Spain's Capricornio Launch Vehicle New Three-Stage Booster Under Development for Small Payloads - Free Online Library". Thefreelibrary.com. 1997-06-16. Retrieved 2012-08-20.
  4. "Capricornio". B14643.de. Retrieved 2013-10-22.
  5. "Spain in Space" (PDF). Esa.int. Retrieved 2013-10-22.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.