Bayern-Chemie, a subsidiary of MBDA, and the Mobile Rocket Base (MORABA) department of German Aerospace Centre’s (DLR) space operations and astronaut training facility have signed a contract for the development and manufacture of propulsion systems for rockets used in altitude research.
MORABA has developed unique mobile infrastructure and hardware that enables the launch of an altitude research rocket at any time and from any place on earth. The rocket’s dual-stage configuration will primarily use a new solid fuel rocket engine from Bayern-Chemie as a lower-stage.
This new engine is the largest ever developed and built by the company, using more than 800 kg of fuel. The specific performance of the engine will provide enhanced capability and performance of the rocket, according to MBDA.
With new engines at the lower and upper stages, the research rockets can then carry payloads of 400 kg at altitudes of up to 260 km.
“Altitude research is an exciting field of application for our technologies. It makes us proud to have been selected by DLR to support pioneering projects in altitude research with our rocket engines, thus enabling technological, materials science and biological experiments under quasi-weightlessness,” Dr. Wolfgang Rieck, managing director of Bayern-Chemie, commented.
