SPARK (rocket)
American three-stage solid rocket for small satellite launches.
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SPARK (Spaceborne Payload Assist Rocket - Kauai), also known as Super Strypi, is an American expendable launch system developed by the University of Hawaii, Sandia, and Aerojet Rocketdyne. It is designed to place miniaturized satellites into low Earth and Sun-synchronous orbits and is a derivative of the Strypi rocket from the 1960s. The rocket is being developed under the LEONIDAS program, funded by the Operationally Responsive Space Office of the United States Department of Defense.
History
The SPARK rocket's debut flight, called ORS-4, launched on November 3, 2015. It carried HiakaSat along with several smaller payloads, including the Edison Demonstration of Smallsat Networks, and was meant to test the rocket at its maximum payload capacity. Shortly after liftoff, telemetry showed the rocket began to tumble. The U.S. Air Force later stated that the experimental Super Strypi vehicle failed in mid-flight.
More in Space Launch Vehicles of the United States
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: SPARK (rocket) (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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