ABL’s RS1 gets the nod from Lockheed Martin to fly from Unst in Shetland Islands

by | Feb 8, 2021 | commercial launch services, Launches, Seradata News

As part of its £23.5 million (US$31 million) launch enabling project for the UK Government, US aerospace firm Lockheed Martin has awarded a contract to US small launch vehicle manufacturer ABL Space Systems to provide a demonstration orbital “UK Pathfinder launch” using its RS1 rocket. The launch is expected to take place during 2022 from one of the three pads at the vertical launch site at the Shetland Space Centre, which is being built in Unst in the Shetland Islands, Scotland.

Still from promotional video showing RS-1 rocket on its launch pad at Unst, Shetland Islands. Courtesy: ABL

The rocket will fly on a northerly trajectory and should be able to carry around 1000 kg to a near-polar 500 km Sun-synchronous low Earth orbit. Compared with the Sutherland space port in northern Scotland, which was originally considered for the launch site, Unst is less hampered by oil rigs and related activity in the way of its trajectory, causing launch date limitations.

The 27m-long RS1 rocket is a two-stage design employing a traditional pair of liquid propellants: kerosene as the fuel and Liquid Oxygen (LOx) as the oxidiser. The rocket will carry a manoeuvrable delivery spacecraft called the Moog SL-OMV (Small Launcher-Orbital Manoeuvring Vehicle). This is designed to carry up to six 6U cubesat-class satellites to different orbits. One of these rides is reported by the BBC as having been booked by Orbital Micro Systems for one of its weather satellites.

 

 

 

About Seradata

Seradata produce the renowned Seradata database. Trusted by over 100 of the world’s leading Space organisations, Seradata is a fully queryable database used for market analysis, failure/risk assessment, spectrum analysis and space situational awareness (SSA).

For more information go to https://www.seradata.com/product/

Related Articles

Categories

Archives

Tags

nasaspacexecoreviewsissesaArianespacevideochinaFalcon 9v1.2FT Block 525virgin galacticULAfalcon 9RoscosmosevaDGAspacewalkaviation weekaressoyuzIGTInternational Space StationRocket LabBeidouawardsBlue OriginStarlinkspaceSatellite broadcastingrussiamoonboeingAirbus DSISROCargo Return VehicleresearchOneWebmarsblogspaceshiptwojaxaorionmarsimpactdelayhyperbolaEutelsatdemocratrocketlunarhypertextobamagoogle lunar prizelaunchVegabarack obamaconstellationSEStourismnorthfiguresthales alenia spacespaceflightnode 2fundedIntelsatRaymond Lygo2009Lockheed MartinExpress MD-2Elon MuskAtlas Vromess2dassault aviationaviationLucy2008wk2sstlukradiomissilesuborbitaldocking portexplorationAriane 5 ECAVirgin OrbittestinternetLong March 2D/2sts-122Ariane 5Northrop GrummanSLSChina Manned Space EngineeringElectronflightspace tourism2010cotsnewspapermissile defensegalileospaceportExpress AMU 1Long March 4Cbuildspace stationaltairsoyuz 2-1aProton Minternational astronautical congressshuttlespace shuttleEuropean Space AgencyLauncherOneCosmosIntelsat 23scaled compositesnew yorkrulesAriane 6hanleybudgetatvVietnamshenzhoucongressMojaveboldenLong March 2COrbital ATKInmarsatcnesnew shepardiaclunar landerGuiana Space CenterkscApollolawsSpace Systems/LoralUK Space AgencyLong March 4BKuaizhou 1AILSprotonUS Air ForceTalulah RileydarpaElectron KSFalcon 9v1.2 Block 5Vega CeuAstriumSkylonpicturebaseusaastronautdragonlanderfiveeventTelesatNorth KoreaSSLAprilSNC50thinterviewLong MarchSea LaunchfalconWednesdaycustomerlinkatlantissuccessor