Today Starchaser Industries Limited visited QKA with one of their rockets !

• Skybolt 2 is a Sounding Rocket (a research rocket). The term ‘sounding’ is an old nautical expression which means ‘to take measurements’
• Skybolt 2 stands just under 9 metres (30 feet) tall and the rocket on display here is a prototype
• It is a decommissioned but an actual (real) rocket which was flown on September 11^th 2017
• The rocket is slightly damaged as there was a problem with 2 of the 3 parachutes upon landing (the rocket has cracks in a couple of places and one of the fins is missing)
• Max velocity for a Skybolt rocket is 3200mph
• • 3600 mph wuld be 1 mile per second
  • It wuld be like running around a 400m school / Olympic running track 3.5 times in 1 second
• Max Mach number is 4.8 so almost 5 x the speed of sound
• Max G-Force would be about 6 G’s of acceleration (so if onboard, you’d feel 6 times your own body weight) most roller coasters pull 3 or 4 G’s
• Skybolt rockets are reusable and recoverable by parachute
• This rocket can carry a payload of 20kg and provide up to 4 minutes of weightlessness
• The body of the rocket is made from carbon fibre (lightweight material used for sports cars)
• It takes just 5 minutes for the rocket to reach space and 24 minutes for the total flight
• Max altitude is 83.5 miles (134 KM). Space is defined as 62 miles (100KM). Flight is sub-orbital
• Skybolt weighs 2.5 tonnes when ready to launch (about the weight of a small elephant)
• This version of Skybolt was powered by solid rocket motors
• A flight ready Skybolt costs £180,000 to build and launch