Copenhagen Suborbitals

In 2014, Copenhagen Suborbitals settled on the basic design for their first crewed rocket and space capsule. The rocket is named Spica and will stand 12–14 m tall with a diameter of 950 mm. It will be powered by the BPM-100 engine class, using liquid oxygen as oxidizer and ethanol as fuel, producing 100 kN of thrust. It's likely to feature pressure-blow-down tanks, optimized by a dynamic pressure regulation (DPR) system, but turbo pumps are also a possibility. Flight control may feature thrust vectoring via a gimballed engine, or more likely graphite control vanes inside of the nozzle for thrust direction. The rocket will be fully guided by home-built electronics and software. Most of the systems and technology will initially be tested on the smaller Nexø class rockets in 2016/18. The space capsule will be of a tubular design similar to its predecessor Tycho Brahe, but its greater diameter will allow the astronaut to assume a sitting position during launch and re-entry to withstand the G-forces.

In 2014/2015 the group designed, built and tested a series of smaller engines with a nominal thrust of 2 and 5 kN. The BPM-5 class will fly on the Nexø I and II rockets in 2016/2018, paving the way for the much bigger Spica rocket and engine. The purpose was to validate the performance and operation of the group's new engine design direction. The tests were successful, with results exceeding expectations. Different fuel additives (such as TEOS) as well as different jet vane materials were also tested. The BPM engines are bi-liquid rocket engines using LOX and ethanol, regeneratively cooled by the ethanol fuel. The spring/summer 2015 test firings used passive pressure blow-down, and in the winter 2015/2016 will see the test firings continued with a dynamic pressure (DPR) regulation system, which then will fly on the Nexø II rocket in spring 2018.

From 2008 to 2012, the group based the work on a hybrid rocket, using liquid oxygen (LOX) as oxidizer. Originally, the HEAT-1X rocket was to be fueled by paraffin wax, but a ground test 28 February 2010 revealed that some of the paraffin wax had only partially melted, instead of evaporating. The result was that HEAT-1X had less power than expected. A ground test firing of HEAT-1X-P (P for polyurethane) was conducted 16 May 2010. The polyurethane had the right power but showed heavy oscillation. Until 2011 the group had performed more than 30 tests of various engine types at their rocket engine test facility at Refshaleøen. In fall of 2012 a concept engine using white fuming nitric acid and furfuryl alcohol was tried using a static test setup.[11] In 2012 a decision was made to switch to bi-propellant, liquid-fueled engines running on liquid oxygen and ethanol.

Static test of the HATV at Refshaleøen 2011

The HATV (Hybrid Atmospheric Test Vehicle) was a 220 mm diameter hybrid booster, used for testing purposes, it is one third the size of the HEAT rocket. It produces approximately 12 kN thrust within a combustion time of 20 seconds.

HEAT 1X (Hybrid Exo Atmospheric Transporter)[12] was the rocket booster module, intended to launch the Space capsule Tycho Brahe into space, the combination being known as HEAT-1X TYCHO BRAHE. The rocket design was the result of numerous static-booster tests of the solid fuel epoxy and the liquid oxidizer nitrous oxide. A combination which was also used in the scale-down test rocket HATV (Hybrid Atmospheric Test Vehicle) which was only one third the size of the HEAT. Stabilization of the rocket was provided through rollerons. The rocket was successfully launched 3 June 2011, but the test was aborted at an altitude of 2.8 km.

Drawing of the stacked rocket, with HEAT at the bottom. Compared with the final rocket

TM-65 and TM6-5 IIA/B were liquid propellant engines using 75% Ethanol and liquid oxygen (LOX) as oxidizer. These engines produced about 65 kN thrust.[13] First static tests were conducted in May 2012. One TM65 II engine was for HEAT-2X and one was for HEAT-1600 LE. The TM-65 engine passed the test undamaged, and was fired at up to 50% of its rated thrust. The group planned to repeat the test with higher thrust levels, until the TM-65 class in 2014 was abandoned in favour of the BPM-100 engine concept.[14]

The HEAT-2X was a rocket built for flight-testing the TM-65 engine. It was planned to carry a 1:3 scale, 80 kg space capsule mock-up called the TDS-80 into the stratosphere.

The rocket was not flown as it suffered an engine fire during a static test in the summer of 2014. The rocket nozzle imploded and a welding seam opened resulting in the expulsion of all the ethanol fuel (some 500 L) in just three seconds resulting in a large fire which damaged the part of the rocket. The engine failure and subsequent fire was filmed[15] up close with a high-speed camera, which although burned on the outside, survived the inferno enough for the film to be recovered.

The HEAT-1600 LE and HEAT-1600 (after the 1600 mm diameter of the rockets) were the biggest rocket concepts from the group, and were in pre-production in 2013. However, the 1600 mm diameter rocket and capsule concept was abandoned in 2014, in favour of the 950 mm diameter Spica rocket and capsule. HEAT-1600 LE was to be a full size version of the HEAT-1600 with only one TM-65 engine. The HEAT-1600 was planned to fly with a single 260 kN engine or a cluster of 4 x TM-65 engines fed by turbo pumps on a single stage.[16]

Tycho Brahe being stacked.

Sketch of the Tycho interior

The micro space craft (MSC), named Tycho Brahe after the Danish astronomer, has a steel pressure hull with room for one passenger.

The passenger would be able to view the outside through a Perspex dome.[12] The occupant would fly in a half-standing, half-sitting position in a specially designed seat and would be wearing anti-G trousers to avoid blackout. Another compartment contains both the high-speed drogue parachute and the low-speed main parachutes for deceleration. The sheer volume of the MSC will provide the buoyancy in the water upon touchdown.

The first MSC was christened "Tycho Brahe 1" and its first flight was not crewed, instead using a crash test dummy.[17] A new aluminum MSC called MAX-1 named after Maxime Faget was under development but has been abandoned, according to the group, due to the physiological problems associated with rapid acceleration of a human in standing position.[18] The craft is now on display in the Tycho Brahe Planetarium in Copenhagen.[19]

Tycho Deep Space during testing of the Launch Escape System

Tycho Deep Space is a space capsule developed by Kristian von Bengtson. The first version officially named "Beautiful Betty" by Mikael Bertelsen, the capsule's protector.[20] The uncrewed capsule was launched on 12 August 2012 at sea by a test Launch Escape System, off the coast of Bornholm. The launch did not provide enough height for the parachute to deploy and the capsule was partly damaged on impact with the sea. The capsule is 2 m in diameter, allowing for an astronaut to be in a horizontal position relative to the acceleration during launch and landing.

The first full-scale test-launch aimed at 30 km altitude was planned to be conducted off the coast of Bornholm between 30 August and 13 September 2010.[22] The vehicle carried a crash test dummy "Rescue Randy" instead of a human pilot, with crewed flight not planned for some years. The success criteria were the completion of the sea voyage and a countdown with launch, with recovery planned as a bonus.[23]

On Tuesday, 31 August 2010, the privately built Danish submarine UC3 Nautilus pushed the launch platform Sputnik carrying the rocket and spacecraft from Copenhagen towards the launch area near Nexø, Bornholm.[24]

A launch attempt was made on Sunday, 5 September 2010, 14:43 CEST,[25] but the motor could not be started due to a failure of the LOX valve which is assumed to be caused by insufficient heating of the valve. The design famously included a consumer hair dryer for defrosting the LOX-valve; in effect it was not the blow-dryer but its power supply that failed.[26]

The group promised to come back the year after to attempt the launch again.[27]

HEAT 1X Tycho Brahe lifting off from MLP-Sputnik

Having done updates on the rocket, and the valve, and with MLP-Sputnik under her own power, and a support vessel, the group sailed again for Spaceport Nexø on May 28 at 4:50 a.m. They again met up with MHV Hjortø, a Naval Home Guard vessel that serves as mission control and recovery vessel. The second launch attempt was more successful and the maiden flight took place 3 June 2011, at 16:32 local time (CEST) (14:32 GMT). The HEAT-1X rocket lifted off and ascended to an altitude of only 2.8 km,[28] because Mission Control had to shut the engine off after 21 seconds.[29]

The two-stage Smaragd in the HAB, missing only electronics with Peter Madsen on the right side

The SMARAGD rocket (emerald in Danish) is a 5.7 meter[30] two-stage rocket weighing 160 kg, intended to reach an altitude of 8 km,[31] that was used for testing various technological aspects of the operation. On July 27, 2012, the team set out from Nexø towards the launch site, intending to launch the SMARAGD rocket.[32][33] After some initial problems with the remote launch control,[34] the rocket launched successfully just after 1 pm[35][36] and reached the maximum altitude of 8.2 km.[37] It was evident shortly after takeoff that the nosecone containing electronics broke off during launch, possibly due to the large acceleration of estimated 20 g.[38]

On 12 August 2012 at 09:18, the space capsule Tycho Deep Space was launched to test a launch escape system. However the parachute did not deploy properly and the capsule was damaged on impact.[39] Several media had misunderstood the schedule and proclaimed the launch to have been started prematurely due to an error.[40] The test was considered partly successful by the team, due to the successful rocket launch and the unsuccessful parachute deployment.[41] The launch could be followed live via live streaming from several video cameras; additionally high-speed cameras were mounted on the MLP.[42]

SAPPHIRE-1, a modification of the HATV, was a 4.5 m rocket whose main purpose was to test the active guidance system developed by Copenhagen Suborbitals.[43] It was successfully launched on 23 June 2013.[44]

Nexø I was launched Saturday, 23 July 2016, with inaugural BPM-5 engine. It was a partial success, and the supply of liquid oxygen to the engine was insufficient due to partial premature evaporation.[45][46]

The Nexø II was successfully launched on 4 August 2018, with a slightly modified BPM-5 engine. It reached an apogee of 8–12 km and was safely recovered via parachute.[47]