German rocket startup Rocket Factory's second test fire of its first stage rocket ended in flames yesterday in a spaceport in the UK, the firm confirmed in a statement made late afternoon yesterday. Rocket Factory is Germany's most advanced rocket company and it has been developing its RFA One rocket for the past couple of years as part of plans to eventually launch it out of the SaxaVord spaceport in Scotland.
The firm had been moving fast in 2024 and had planned to launch a test flight of the same rocket that exploded yesterday later this year. However, its plans after the accident are unclear, as Rocket Factory has asked for time to evaluate its operations.
RocketFactory Joints Veteran Space Firms In Experiencing Explosions During Early Development Stages
Yesterday's test was of Rocket Factory's RFA One rocket's first stage. The RFA One is a small lift rocket designed to generate roughly 300 kilonewtons of thrust and place 1.6 tons in low Earth orbit (LEO). As opposed to most other small lift rockets, it is a three stage vehicle, with nine engines on the first stage that are designed in house by Rocket Factory.
The first stage test was one of the final ones that Rocket Factory had planned before a test flight of the RFA One later this year. This stage was part of the test flight, and with its destruction, it's inevitable that the test flight should have been delayed. Rocket Factory had been moving fast prior to the anomaly as it had also been developing the second stage with a single vacuum engine.
Rocket Factory's rocket engines are called the Helix engines. While they use the standard rocket-grade kerosene as their fuel, their design is more efficient than that of other kerosene engines because it uses staged combustion—a process through which propellant used to cool the engine is also utilized to generate thrust.
Footage of yesterday's test, shared by the BBC, shows that it was perhaps the fieriest that we've come across in 2024. The year has been marked mostly by test or landing anomalies faced by Chinese rocket companies, and with the accident, Rocket Factory joins a long list of space companies including SpaceX and Firefly Aerospace.
The footage shows that initially the first stage was engulfed in flames which was followed by the entire test stand catching fire and eventually exploding. Since Rocket Factory is based out of Germany, it has designed its launch pad to be completely mobile. In a blog post earlier this year, the firm revealed that after building the site in Augsburg, Germany, it packed everything in shipping containers and transported them to the UK.
In its statement made after the accident, Rocket Factory confirmed that it had lost the RFA One's first stage rocket. It added that it is gathering "data and info to eventually resolve what happened" as part of its work with the SaxaVord Spaceport authorities. Emphasizing that it will take its time to "assess and analyze the situation/' the firm stressed that there was no loss of life or injury at the pad.
Another static fire test became quite dynamic!
RFA of Germany had a dramatic 🔥 in the Shetland Islands today. Rockets are hard. pic.twitter.com/OiI8E6yX3d
— Steve Jurvetson (@FutureJurvetson) August 20, 2024
About the author: Ramish is a seasoned technology writer and editor with more than a decade of experience. He specializes in semiconductor fabrication and market analysis. With a background in finance and supply chain management - via his bachelors in Finance and a micromasters in supply chain management from MIT - Ramish combines financial rigor with deep industry insight to deliver accurate and authoritative coverage.
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