DARPA Launch Challenge
The DARPA Launch Challenge was an American rocket launch competition that took place in the first quarter of 2020. The plan was to give three participating space companies two short-term start orders each. They should have brought the provided payloads into the required earth orbit as quickly and precisely as possible . With the competition, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) - the research branch of the US Department of Defense - wanted to test the tactical launch of small military satellites .
Ultimately, the Launch Challenge remained without a winner. The participant Vector Launch filed for bankruptcy in August 2019 and ceased operations; Virgin Orbit withdrew from participation in October 2019. Astra Space gave up on the last launch day due to a technical defect.
qualification
The competition was announced on May 24, 2018 as part of an introductory event. Of the 55 interested parties present, over 30 submitted applications with a description of their missile systems. In a preselection, DARPA reduced the field of participants to 18 teams.
For the actual qualification, the teams had to answer a detailed questionnaire by November 2018 on their rocket technology, the launch infrastructure, the services offered, the planned launch processes and the status of development. They also had to apply for a starting license from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) by March 2019 . After the licenses had been granted, on April 10, 2019, DARPA announced the list of companies that have successfully qualified:
- Vector Launch Inc, founded in 2016, with its Vector-R rocket ,
- Vox Space , a subsidiary of Virgin Orbit or the Virgin Group , with the LauncherOne rocket ,
- an unnamed company identified by industry insiders as Astra Space with the Rocket rocket .
At this point, none of the three participants had launched a payload into space.
Course of the competition
The competition should take place in two rounds. The first was originally planned for late 2019 and was later postponed to January to February 2020. It was planned that DARPA would announce a launch window and the launch sites ( space stations ) for the three rockets within this period with 30 days' lead time . Less than 14 days before the start of the start period, the participants should then be given the payloads and the exact start ramps and destination orbits communicated. Within a few weeks of the end of the first campaign, the final round should be held in the same mode but from different starting positions. Whoever was successful in the first round qualifies for the final round.
As far as is known, this plan is largely adhered to. The first launch window was set for the period from February 17 to March 1, 2020 and the payload - three experimental cubesats - was made available at short notice. As the only remaining participant, DARPA accommodated Astra in that they chose two launch sites at the Alaska Spaceport (PSCA) and announced both at the beginning of the first round. All missile tests have already taken place at the PSCA, and the first commercial missions are also planned from there. In addition, the DARPA provided an extension of the time window z. B. in the event that there are only a few starting opportunities due to the weather. This option was also used; the start day was postponed to March 2nd due to a technical defect and unfavorable weather. However, 52 seconds before the rocket was scheduled to take off, the countdown had to be interrupted because a sensor was showing unexpected readings. It was no longer possible to solve the problem on this last day of the competition. Astra wrote: “… we have decided to prioritize fully investigating the issue over attempting to win the DARPA challenge today.” (We have decided to give a full investigation of the problem a higher priority than winning the DARPA competition).
Prize money
The three qualified participants received an advance payment of 400,000 US dollars each . For a successful first launch, DARPA would have paid another $ 2 million. The participants with two successful launches should ultimately be rated primarily according to their speed, also according to target accuracy and payload mass. If the mission goal had been met, the winner of the competition would have received $ 10 million. The runner-up would have been awarded $ 9 million and the third-placed $ 8 million.
Start list
Six starts were planned. Ultimately, only the first of these was tried and broadcast live on Youtube . But it had to be canceled in the last minute before take-off (at T-0: 53).
| Date ( UTC , planned) | rocket | Launch site | orbit | Remarks | |
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| First round | |||||
| March 2, 2020 8:55 PM |
Rocket 3.0 | PSCA 3B | LEO | Payload: Prometheus, 2 × ARCE (Technologieerprobungs- Cubesats ); Aborted start | |
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| Second round | |||||
| 2nd half of March 2020 | Rocket 3.0 | PSCA 3C | LEO | only after a successful first start; did not take place | |
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See also
Web links
- DARPA Launch Challenge website (English)
- Rules and conditions of participation for the DARPA Launch Challenge (English, PDF)
- Jeff Foust: Three companies selected for DARPA Launch Challenge. In Spacenews, April 10, 2019. (English)
- Eric Berger: Astra came close to achieving what DARPA has sought to do for two decades . In Ars Technica , March 4, 2020. (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Stealth startup lone remaining contender in DARPA responsive launch challenge . Spacenews, October 23, 2019.
- ↑ See Space News, April 10, 2019 and Twitter message by Jim Cantrell, Chairman of the competitor Vector Space, April 11 of 2019.
- ↑ a b DARPA makes last-minute change to launch competition rules . Spacenews, February 18, 2020.
- ↑ Rocket 1 of 3, Launch Attempt 1 . Astra Space, March 2, 2020.