Skyrora, one of a group of UK-based rocket companies trying to challenge Elon Musk’s SpaceX in the market for private satellite launches, was foiled by technical gremlins in its latest launch attempt, taking an early bath in off the coast of Iceland.
The Edinburgh-based outfit said the 11-metre tall Skylark L rocket left the launch pad in the middle of a storm and amid freezing temperatures, before it "experienced an anomaly" and splashed down about 500 metres away from the launch site.
Using various tracking systems, boats and aeroplanes have been employed to help recover the rocket from the sea, the company said, adding that "no people or wildlife were harmed in any way".
Skyora said it is still aiming to launch its larger orbital rocket at SaxaVord spaceport next year, on the Shetland island of Unst, which will be the first vertical orbital launch from UK soil.
Last October it signed a multi-launch agreement with SaxaVord, including plans to complete the first orbital space launch from the UK, though this date has been pushed back.
Barring problems, this honour is set to go to Virgin Orbit, which is scheduled to carry out the first satellite launch from the other end of the UK, with a ‘horizontal’ take-off in its modified Boeing jumbo jet from Spaceport Cornwall near Newquay.
In preparation for the SaxaVord launch, Skyora has been carrying out tests just over 900 miles away on the Langanes peninsula in northeast Iceland.
Ukrainian-born founder Volodymyr Levykin said: “Skyrora is continuously propelling itself towards UK launch… Those on site are currently completing pack-down through those challenging conditions, and we will be investigating the nature and cause of the anomaly further once that process is finished.”
Operations chief Lee Rosen said: “With over three decades in the business, I can assure you that despite the best design, build, and test preparations, anomalies still unfortunately do happen.”
He said the launch attempt provided the team with “valuable experience in operations procedures, logistics coordination, and execution of the rapid setup and pack-down of our mobile launch complex”.
Using the company mobile spaceport technology, the launch attempt was completed within seven days of arriving on site, while the entire launch operation was developed and executed in record time, it said, with packing a shipping container, deployment and shipping and setup taking less than a month.
“Due to the spaceport’s mobility, Skyrora was able to minimise the footprint of their launch operations on the surrounding landscape and wildlife habitats, leaving little to no trace of activity behind,” it said.
The Skylark L suborbital rocket is capable of reaching four times the speed of sound and an altitude of over 125 km, with over two thirds of the technology tested in this launch attempt to be applied to the systems of the Skyrora XL orbital vehicle.
This, it said, will help increase technological readiness ahead of vertical orbital launch next year.
A Skyora XL second-stage static fire test was completed in August at the community owned Machrihanish Airbase on the Mull of Kintyre, the first test of its kind in the UK in over 50 years.
Skyrora XL is a three-stage launch rocket that stands at 23 metres tall and is built to carry a payload capacity of 315kg, powered by its own design of 70kN (kilonewton) bi-propellent engines, which are 3D printed and are supposed to emit half of the carbon emissions of engines that use liquid oxygen and kerosene.
Once it gets going, Levykin aims for the company to complete up to 16 launches a year by 2030.