The Brazilian Air Force (FAB) launched an unmanned rocket into space this Friday, 29th, from the Barreira do Inferno Launch Center, in Parnamirim, Rio Grande do Norte.
The vehicle, with 100% national technology, left at 1:19 pm and stayed in space for 2 minutes and 50 seconds. It then fell into the Atlantic Ocean. The complete mission lasted 5 minutes and 50 seconds and ended the first phase of Operation Potiguar.
It is a suborbital sounding rocket, model VS-30, about eight meters long and weighing 1.5 tons at takeoff. The vehicle can transport loads of up to 330 kilos. On Friday’s flight, the rocket carried more than a thousand letters written by public school students.
Suborbital vehicles, although they do not reach the capacity to enter orbit, reach altitudes that exceed the atmosphere. They are used in scientific and technological experiments that are of interest to various industries, such as pharmaceuticals, metal-mechanical products, food and cosmetics.
The launch aimed to train the team, in addition to testing equipment and processes. According to the FAB, the rocket followed the trajectory predicted by technicians and engineers, with the telemetry and radar response systems functioning correctly throughout the flight.
According to the general director of the Department of Aerospace Science and Technology (DCTA), Air Lieutenant Maurício Augusto Silveira de Medeiros, the initiative seeks greater autonomy for Brazil in launch events for this type of vehicle. “We are breaking paradigms and creating perspectives for the future. We have a space complex and, with the launch of this rocket, we demonstrate that Barreira do Inferno is fully capable of holding such events”, he said.
Subordinated to the DCTA, the Barreira do Inferno Launch Center has already carried out more than 3 thousand launches, in 655 operations, in addition to 265 space vehicle tracking events. “With the advent of Alada, a public company that will manage most of the commercial launches, I have no doubt that there will be a lack of spaces like this in Brazil,” stated Medeiros.
Second phase
In the second phase of Operation Potiguar, scheduled for the second half of 2025, CLBI will use another rocket of the same model to qualify the recovery system for the upper part of the vehicle, known as a suborbital microgravity platform (PSM). This part is made up of a compartment for experiments and several electronic systems that interact with the payload.
Developed by the FAB’s Institute of Aeronautics and Space (IAE), in partnership with several Brazilian companies, the sounding rocket is part of the S30 family. The project, started in 1996, also covers the VSB30 and the VS30 Orion (discontinued version). 55 launches involving these devices have already been carried out.
As the coordinator of Operation Potiguar, Lieutenant-Colonel Engineer Fernando César Monteiro Tavares, explains, the experiments are varied. An example of the application is the resin used in dentistry to restore damaged or worn teeth. “This resin flew into space on a similar rocket. Crystallization was carried out in microgravity and is now used all over the world”, he says.
This content was originally published in Understand how a Brazilian rocket flight into space was and where it came from on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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