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The Amateur Spaceflight
Association successfully launched a ½ scale version of its space-capable
rocket design at the proposed Gulf Coast Regional Spaceport. The focus of
this launch was to initiate the site of the proposed space port and to
complete a long list of demonstration test objectives for the space capable
rocket design.
This launch was the
seventh in a series of test flights aimed at evaluating the aerodynamic
models, onboard avionics and ground support equipment. During takeoff, the
rocket experienced 8.27 Gs as it achieved Mach 1.02 and flew to an altitude
of 11, 588 feet before deploying the main recovery system and landing
safely a half mile from the launch pad. Real time onboard video and
telemetry were downlinked to the ground as launch controllers monitored the
health and status of the rocket throughout the flight. The only hiccup came
9 seconds into flight where the ground controllers lost communication with
the onboard GPS unit. After the rocket was recovered, it was observed the
GPS antenna had been dynamically removed during flight.
Click here to download
the May 3 Launch Report. (1.4 Mb)
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