UP Aerospace has completed a preliminary analysis of its Sept. 25 launch from Spaceport America. It didn’t identify what went wrong, but eliminated many major problems as possible causes.
“The entire vehicle – from nosecone to airframe to motor to fins – remained structurally sound throughout the entire flight,” company President Jerry Larson said in a news release. “Everything was fine from launch, through apogee, back through the atmosphere, to landing. There were no premature flight events. All of the key systems were operating as anticipated.”
Analysis confirms that, for the first nine seconds of the flight, things went perfectly, Larson said. If the rocket had continued on that path for another three seconds, the flight would have been entirely successful, he said.
But that didn’t happen. Eight miles into the planned 70-mile journey into space, an “anomaly” caused a “wobble” that sent the rocket back to earth instead of into space.
“The subtlety of the anomaly is what is making the analysis a little more time-consuming,” Larson said. “But that, in itself, is good news. A major anomaly would be quickly apparent. We’ve thus been able to rule out many things that would be serious issues.”
UP Aerospace is working with officials from the spaceport and
In the meantime, the company said, it still plans a launch that will “take place before the end of this year.” It made no mention of the previously set Oct. 21 launch date, which has apparently been put on hold pending the outcome of investigation.
“In a very short time, we’ll zero in on the root cause, inform our launch partners and the media, and start preparing for our next flights,” Larson said. “I think people will be surprised at how fast we return to flight operations.”
You can watch the video I took of the launch by clicking here.