Skyrora reveals new UK-built vehicle in live test

This historic event represents yet another significant milestone in the Edinburgh-based rocket manufacturer’s development plan.

The company unveiled its latest technical accomplishment with a full mission duration static fire test (450 second burn over three firings) of the upper stage of its orbital-class vehicle, Skyrora XL. The test involved a fully-integrated setup of the engine, feed systems, avionics, and the software.

This third stage vehicle has capabilities way beyond just transporting its payload into orbit. It is a full mission-ready Orbital Transfer Vehicle (OTV) that can perform a number of in-space missions once it has delivered its payload including the replacement of redundant satellites or even the removal of space debris.

Skyrora CEO, Volodymyr Levykin, said: “Our goal was always to be mission ready once all the regulations and permissions were in place, and this development not only brings us closer to that point but also takes us beyond simply launch readiness. We have been deliberately quiet about this aspect of our Skyrora XL launch vehicle as we had technical challenges to get it to this stage and we wanted to ensure all tests had a satisfactory outcome, which they now have.”

This sort of vehicle is a crucial development in Skyrora’s aim to maximise the UK’s space activities, giving the country the ability to remove space junk, launch earth monitoring satellites and maintain existing in-orbit satellites, with a minimum number of launches.

With several missions being achieved by one single rocket launch, Skyrora optimise each launch while minimising any impact on the local environment. This is coupled with the use of eco-friendly fuel, Ecosene, powering the vehicle to ensure the UK has the most environmentally friendly space industry in the world.

The Skyrora XL upper stage is powered by a 3D printed 3.5kN liquid engine with multiple ignition capability. Orientation control is provided by engine gimballing and cold gas thrusters. The main structure and tanks are manufactured from carbon fibre making it extremely light and therefore reducing the quantity of fuel required during its journey

www.skyrora.com