Part 4: Mission: Skybreaker-2

The lower stage of a Skybreaker rocket was the same, but the upper portion was considerably different. Instead of a capsule on a suborbital trip, we were attempting to launch a robotic satellite into an orbit. The satellite contained an array of sensors and a transmitter for broadcasting its information.



At first, things seemed to work. The rocket was turned on a more horizontal path than the capsule flight.



We got a course to match, and intended to blast into orbit at the top of the arc.



Unfortunately, it began to spin out of control, and was well past the apoapsis when we finally regained control enough to attempt the orbital burn.



The Skybreaker lost its fuel and the rest of the attempt was conducted with the tiny engine of the satellite itself. Although it pushed as hard as it could, it could not reach orbit.



The transmitter was deployed and the instruments turned on in a successful attempt to salvage some data from the failed mission.



But the satellite ultimately fell into the water. Almost as soon as the 45-minute flight ended, there was much heated discussion over whether to try again with a Skybreaker or build a bigger rocket. Although a bigger rocket is inevitable, so will attempting a repeat, as better control may enable success with the small payload.