No matter how old you get, watching things getting destroyed is always fun, even if it’s your own built rocket that you build after spending millions on it.
A German startup called Rocket Factory Augsburg, recently completed another test of its RFA One rocket in August which involved the deliberate destruction of the cryogenic pressure test of its first-stage prototype.
The deliberate destroying of the rocket plays a huge part in the future for RFA as it aims to develop an operational and reusable launch vehicle for smaller payloads. The company’s prototype rocket, RFA One, which is busy being used for carrying out tests right now, is scheduled for a first launch attempt in the later part of 2022. According to the company, there are still a few more tests lined up before the rocket’s core stage so we might get to see another rocket blowing up in the future.
RFA debuted its first stage steel tank in response to a tweet of SpaceX’s stacking of Starship 20 in Starbase, Texas in which it pointed out similarities between the two (the major point being they’re both made of steel) The German aerospace firm tweeted, “You can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs! With our cryogenic burst test, we pushed the limits of our first stage design and successfully demonstrated the strengthening of our steel alloy under cryo conditions!“
As more and more private startups get the hang of space technology and promote space travel, the ecological impact of these repeated launches would have adverse effects on the environment in the future. Keeping this in mind, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released an environmental assessment on SpaceX’s launches, highlighting the actions that needed to be carried out to minimize the firm’s environmental fallout. Smaller companies like RFA also have to keep in mind these environmental impacts as their test launches come closer to commercial launches in the future.