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Armadillo Tube Rocket |
Armadillo Aerospace LLC
Armadillo Aerospace was suspended in 2013. The new company Exos Aerospace Systems and Technologies has evidently purchased some or all of Armadillo Aerospace's equipment and facility.
Armadillo Aerospace Developing
a Tube Rocket Armadillo Aerospace has announced they are working on a new rocket. The announcement was made by Ben Brockert on Armadillo�s web site. The tube rocket is named "STIG" (Suborbital Transport with Inertial Guidance). �From our perspective it is a Supermod whose 36 inch spherical tanks have been replaced by 15.25 inch cylindrical tanks with a common bulkhead. Otherwise it is quite similar to our other vehicles; low pressure LOX/alcohol as propellant, regulated helium pressurization, the same type of engine as a Mod, the same engine gimbal and roll vane for guidance and control, and the same computer box and plumbing schematic.� The tube rocket will be quite capable as a sounding rocket. The native payload size is 15 inch diameter by a variable length. The first flight has the goal to exceed 100,000 feet (30.5km). Armadillo Aerospace will launching and recovering the rocket at Spaceport America in New Mexico this year (2011). Future tube rocket plans Armadillo will modifying the vehicle toward reaching space, i.e. 100km. "Modifications will include reducing the weight in some places where it came out heavier than necessary, and putting a larger and more efficient engine on. The next full iteration of the tube rocket will include some research we did on improving the tanks another step, allowing us to run at higher pressure without increasing the weight." Another idea is the clustering of this vehicle: "This vehicle should be able to handily get past 100km, even though we are going to be conservative on the first flight attempt and just be happy to exceed 100,000 feet. We have lots of fairly straightforward axis for improving the performance -- fair over the exposed bits to reduce drag, increase the nozzle expansion ratio, move to one of our newer injector designs, and, of course, take weight out of it. Once we show that the vehicle can clearly fly to space, clustering will improve the payload fraction -- two tubes = a single computer box and no roll vane (differential gimbal like titan), four tubes = fixed engines with better plumbing flow and less actuators, etc." New Mexico
Spaceport -- Armadillo has launched successfully a "STIG-A"
reusable sub-orbital rocket on December 04, 2011. |
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The inaugural flight of STIG-B
is scheduled for this August (2012) with of goal of reaching an altitude of 100
kilometers. The launcher will carrying two revenue payloads, one for Vega Space
and the other for the University of Purdue, and, if successful, this will qualify
the STIG (Suborbital Transport with Inertial Guidance) vehicles for NASA's Flight
Opportunities Program.
The launch will take place from Spaceport America in New Mexico and will be the
first licensed launch from the Spaceport. The company hopes to complete 24 flights
of the STIG-B within the next two years.
STIG-B is still undergoing assembly and details of its design are not yet available.
However, Neil Milburn, Armadillo Aerospace's VP of Program Management, has revealed
STIG-B is slightly bigger than STIG-A, measuring 34 feet long and 20 inches in diameter.