Balloon Space Launch System Could Open Space to All
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a news published on today (05/24) in the website “ALJAZEERA” noting that Balloon Space Launch System could open space to all.
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SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Balloon Space Launch System
Could Open Space to All
A
Spanish company is working on a balloon launch system that
could
slash the cost of putting small satellites into space
Tarek Bazley
24 May
2015 13:13 GMT
A large part of the energy it takes to put an object
into space is needed to lift it through the thick lower atmosphere.
That is why an innovative Spanish company is developing
a satellite launch system called Bloostar. It uses
balloons, rather than rockets, for the first launch stage.
"75% of the cost of a rocket launch happens in
the first 75 seconds as its going up,” says Jose Mariano Lopez-Urdiales,
Founder of Zero2infinity, the company behind the technology.
“If you replace that altitude of the first 75 seconds
with something else cheap and simple like a balloon, you suddenly reduce
dramatically your cost and also your environmental impact.”
Bloostar uses high-altitude helium balloons. These can carry a payload of up to 75kg to an altitude
of 20 kilometers.
The balloon then drops a cluster of three reusable
ring-rockets, which fire in sequence to carry the satellite into orbit.
Zero2infinity says it has designed an engine for the
rockets that is much simpler and cheaper than conventional rockets.
The engines use the near-vacuum conditions found at
high altitudes to create pressure. This then feeds liquid natural gas to the
engines.
“If you compare it with the engine of an airplane it
is way simpler,” says Lluc Palerm, and Aerospace Engineer with Zero2infinity.
“You don’t have any moving parts… and [using] new
technologies like 3D printing we can do it in two or three pieces. Its very
simple to integrate and very simple to operate.”
Zero2infinity says the combination of using the
balloons and the simple gas engines will cut the cost of launching a small
satellite to just a few million dollars, around ten times cheaper than a
traditional rocket launch.
Bloostar is likely to be of greatest interest to
companies, universities and even small countries that are increasing putting
tiny 'cubesats' into orbit.
These typically weigh around 1 kg, making it possible
for Bloostar to launch a number of them at the same time.
Zero2infinity are also looking at using the balloons
to take tourists to the edge of space.
It has already tested an experimental pod at high
altitudes. It is in the process of developing an insulated and pressurized
carbon fiber capsule capable of carrying two passengers up to an altitude of
40km.
Zero2infinity is hoping successful trials of both
systems over the next two years will help demonstrate the role balloons can
play in opening access to space for all.
Source: Website http://www.aljazeera.com/
Comentário: Pois é leitor, interessante notícia onde se
nota claramente a busca cada vez maior de nações do mundo pelo desenvolvimento
espacial de suas sociedades, seja através de iniciativas governamentais ou
através de iniciativas de empresas privadas como neste exemplo. O descaso atual
deste desgoverno de debiloides e de desgovernos anteriores subsequentes cobrará
nas próximas décadas ao Brasil e a sua sociedade um alto preço por esta
estupidez e irresponsabilidade. E ainda tem quem defenda esta “Ogra” e sua
classe política de energúmenos. Fazer o que? Quem planta, colhe. Aproveitamos para agradecer ao nosso leitor Bernardino Silva pelo envio desta interessante notícia.
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