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 11th 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
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- 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