Maine-based BluShift Aerospace launches a unique missile from a Cold War Air Force base.
A small company took a giant step towards the reality of a “Spaceport Maine” last weekend. After several attempts, Maine-based BluShift Aerospace successfully launched its first rocket from Loring Commerce Center in North Maine last weekend with the launch of Stardust 1.0.
The day was clear, but a cool 14 degrees Fahrenheit (-10 degrees Celsius). The single-stage 20-foot Stardust 1.0 rocket launched at 2:47 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) / 7:47 PM Universal Time (UT) on Sunday, January 31, and peaked at 1,236 feet (4,054 feet) meters ). For the initial launch, the rocket was deliberately under-fueled to stay under the FAA’s time and altitude restrictions on amateur rockets, though the company has big plans for Stardust and a new generation of rockets leading to orbital launches from Maine in the years to come.
There were also several experiments and customer payloads aboard Stardust 1.0, including:
– A student Cubesat payload courtesy of Falmouth High School with sensors, a transmitter and a camera.
-Kellogg Research Labs of Nashua, New Hampshire, involved an experiment testing a memory-form nickel-titanium vibration-dampening material known as nitinol for future rocket launches.
Sunrise on the start day. BluShift Aerospace / Betta Stothart
-Rocket Insights added a Cubesat frame in honor of the Dutch parent company, which is filled with Duch wafer biscuits known as “stroopwafels”.
“Everything looked very nominal,” said Sascha Deri, CEO of BluShift Aerospce, to Universe Today after the launch. “We also collected data on Stardust and downloaded it yesterday. The pressures in the combustion chamber, in our oxidizing agent tank and in the injection valves all looked similar to the static tests here in Braunschweig. “
Pre-launch preparation for Stardust 1.0. Photo credit: BluShift Aerospace / Lindsay Heald
Stardust 1.0 is unique in that it uses a proprietary rocket fuel in a modular liquid / solid fuel hybrid rocket engine. The biofuel “Can be obtained directly from farms across America,” says Deri. “I discovered most of the substance on my brother’s farm here in North Yarmouth, Maine. We tried it and it worked better than petroleum. It is also very close to being carbon neutral. “
BluShift Aerospace has carried out around 240 engine tests in the past four years before its first launch. “You learn a lot about how to get the engine running, where things go wrong, and how to fix things quickly.” Says Deri. This technical know-how proved to be useful at the start last Sunday, so that the team can fix errors after two false starts and quickly reconfigure them for a successful start. This ability is also evidence of the capabilities of the hybrid liquid-solid engine. Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo also has a similar hybrid engine.
CEO Sasha Deri founded BluShift Aerospace in 2014. BlueShift Aerospace, based in Brunswick, south Maine, received an order from NASA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) to develop its hybrid engine and fuel in mid-2019. BluShift Aerospace expects to use a full-size MAREVL (Modular Adaptable Rocket Engine for Vehicle Launch) next time the company launches, Stardust 2.0.
The Loring Commerce Center was the Loring Air Force base until 1994. Loring was founded in the 1950s as a base for aircraft and cargo en route across the Atlantic to Europe and later housed B-52 bombers for the Strategic Air Command during the Cold War. Together with the Presque Isle Air Force Base, Loring was a strategic starting point both to Europe and via the Arctic to the Soviet Union.
The start was also interrupted by a (possible) premiere in rocket technology: a “snowmobile in the zone”. The successful completion of the launch also included the first rocket recovery using the snowmobile.
Missile recovery. Photo credit: BluShift Aerospace / Betta Stothart
What’s next for BluShift Aerospace?
Look out for Loring’s BluShift Aerospace launch next year. This time, the start of Stardust 2.0 will be aimed at the Kármán line at an altitude of 100 kilometers. Ultimately, BluShift Aerospace aims to provide customers with 6 to 8 minute zero-G payloads near the apogee that is longer than many suborbital flights. BluShift Aerospace plans to build more missiles, including a three-stage Red Dwarf missile that can launch a 30 kilogram payload into low-earth orbit.
The planned family of BluShift missiles. Image Credit: BluShift Aerospace
The aim is for the Starless Rogue suborbital missile at Red Dwarf to have the same payload capacity. BluShift plans to conduct orbital polar launches from a yet-to-be-selected location along the Maine coast from 2023. Although inland, Deri notes that Loring in northern Maine would still be an ideal location for “horizontal space launches”. similar to those planned from Mojave Spaceport America in New Mexico.
Congratulations to BluShift Aerospace for bringing the state of Maine into the private rocket game with the potential for future space missions.
Mission: Start of Stardust 1.0 in Loring. Photo credit: BluShift Aerospace / Betta Stothart.
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