Tronador (rocket)
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Tronador (Spanish for Thunderer) is a series of Argentine
rocket A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely fr ...
s, including the Tronador I and Tronador II vehicles, to develop a
liquid-propellant rocket A liquid-propellant rocket or liquid rocket utilizes a rocket engine that uses liquid rocket propellant, liquid propellants. Liquids are desirable because they have a reasonably high density and high Specific impulse, specific impulse (''I''sp). T ...
expendable launch system An expendable launch system (or expendable launch vehicle/ELV) is a launch vehicle that can be launched only once, after which its components are either destroyed during reentry or discarded in space. ELVs typically consist of several rocket sta ...
called ISCUL (''Inyector Satelital de Cargas Utiles Ligeras'', Light-Payload Satellite Launcher). The Tronador I is an unguided liquid-fueled rocket used for
sub-orbital A sub-orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which the spacecraft reaches outer space, but its trajectory intersects the atmosphere or surface of the gravitating body from which it was launched, so that it will not complete one orbital re ...
test flights. Its development led to the larger VEx test rocket, testing technologies needed for the Tronador II, which has a guidance system and would be capable of reaching
low Earth orbit A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an orbit around Earth with a period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an eccentricity less than 0.25. Most of the artificial objects in outer space are in LEO, with an altitude never mor ...
. Development of the satellite launch vehicle has cost more than 600 million dollars over several years.


Tronador I

The Tronador I is an unguided liquid-fueled rocket used for
sub-orbital A sub-orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which the spacecraft reaches outer space, but its trajectory intersects the atmosphere or surface of the gravitating body from which it was launched, so that it will not complete one orbital re ...
test flights.


Tronador I (T1)

The Tronador I (T1) vehicle was flown successfully on June 6, 2007 from
Puerto Belgrano Naval Base Port Belgrano Naval Base ( es, Base Naval Puerto Belgrano - BNPB) is the largest naval base of the Argentine Navy, situated next to Punta Alta, near Bahía Blanca, about south of Buenos Aires. It is named after the brigantine ''General Bel ...
near
Bahía Blanca Bahía Blanca (; English: White Bay) is a city in the southwest of the provinces of Argentina, province of Buenos Aires Province, Buenos Aires, Argentina, by the Atlantic Ocean, and is the seat of government of the Bahía Blanca Partido. It had 3 ...
, in the south east of the
Buenos Aires Province Buenos Aires (), officially the Buenos Aires Province (''Provincia de Buenos Aires'' ), is the largest and most populous Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of th ...
. This was the first flight of a technology demonstrator vehicle for the program.


Characteristics

* Length: 3,400 mm * Stages: 1 * Total takeoff mass: 60 kg * Payload mass: 4 kg * Thrust (x 10 s): 500
kgf KGF or ''kgf'' may refer to: *Keratinocyte growth factor *King George's Fields, UK, recreation grounds *Kolar Gold Fields *The IATA code for Sary-Arka Airport, Karaganda, Kazakhstan * ''K.G.F'' (film series), Indian Kannada-language film series * ...


Tronador Ib (T2)

The Tronador Ib (T2) vehicle was flown successfully on August 5, 2008 from Puerto Belgrano Naval Base. This was the second technology demonstrator vehicle flown for the program.


Characteristics

* Length: 3,400 mm * Stages: 1 * Total takeoff mass: 60 kg * Payload mass: 4 kg * Apogee: 15–20 km * Thrust (10 s): 1,500 kgf


VS-30

This was the first cooperative test flight between
Comisión Nacional de Actividades Espaciales Comisión Nacional de Actividades Espaciales (CONAE; in English, National Space Activities Commission) is the civilian agency of the government of Argentina in charge of the national space programme. History Sociedad Argentina Interplanetar ...
and
Brazilian Space Agency The Brazilian Space Agency ( pt, Agência Espacial Brasileira; AEB) is the civilian authority in Brazil responsible for the country's space program. It operates a spaceport at Alcântara, and a rocket launch site at Barreira do Inferno. It is ...
; it was successfully flown in December 2007 (Operacion Angicos). The payload built by CONAE, carried several experiments to validate subsystems for the program such as: IMU (Inertial Measurements Unit, that used I
FOG Fog is a visible aerosol consisting of tiny water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. Reprint from Fog can be considered a type of low-lying cloud usually resembling stratus, and is heavily influ ...
's), GPS receptor (for navigation), all integrated into the on-board computer, and an attitude control system via cold-gas thrusters. The payload unit completed a suborbital flight carried by an AEB-built VS-30 solid-propellant rocket booster, and was then recovered from the sea after landing with parachutes.


Characteristics

* Length: 3,288 mm (Payload module) * Stages: 1 (VS-30 booster) * Total takeoff mass: 1,500 kg * Payload mass: 242.1 kg * Apogee: 120–160 km * Specific Impulse: 266 s (VS-30 booster)


Tronador II

Tronador II's maiden orbital launch is expected to fly in "the next 4 years", according to the National Commission for Space Activities.


Characteristics

As of June 2016, the proposed Tronador II configuration: * Length: 28 m * Stages: 2 * Diameter: 2.5 m * Empty mass: 5,100 kg * Total weight: 67,000 kg * Payload mass: 250 kg * Apogee: 600 km * Lower Stage: 90t total thrust (3x30t engines) at sea level. Fuel: RP-1 / LOX * Upper stage: 1.4t to 4t thrust (single pressurized engine) at sea level (2t to 5.5t in vacuum). Fuel: Monomethylhydrazine(MMH) /


Other proposals

The initial proposal was for a 3-stage rocket. In early 2015, an evolved configuration was presented at the 52nd Committee on Peaceful Uses of Ultra-Terrestrial Space meeting and at the Punta Indio test launch pad. * First Stage: 90t (3 engines x 30t) thrust * Second Stage: 30t thrust * Third stage: 4t thrust Cohete Tronador II.JPG Maqueta del Tronador II en el Puerto espacial de Punta Indio.jpg Tronador II.jpg Piramidetronador-tecnópolis.JPG Tecnópolis cohete Tronador II.JPG TronadorIMPTecnopolis.JPG Tronador2B.jpg


Tronador II prototypes


T4000

The T4000 (Tronador T4000 pathfinder rocket) test rocket is related to the project, as it is the basis of the 3rd stage of the Tronador II. Specifically, it was intended to house the
attitude control Attitude control is the process of controlling the orientation of an aerospace vehicle with respect to an inertial frame of reference or another entity such as the celestial sphere, certain fields, and nearby objects, etc. Controlling vehicle ...
system (“Thrust Vector Control” - TVS). The first launch attempt in 2011 failed. ;Characteristics * Diameter: 4.38 m * Thrust: 4,000 kg (40 kN) * Burn time: 10 seconds


VEx

The recent strategy was to fly separately several suborbital experimental subsystems, called "VEx", before they are incorporated in the prototype of the Tronador II rocket. After a few launches, it was decided in 2017 to stop the experimental Vex series as enough data was obtained to go ahead with a prototype rocket. However, in November 2021, it was announced that the program were reactivated again. Vex1APipinas.jpg, VEx-1A Vex-1b.JPG, VEx-1B


=VEx-1A

= In March 2014, a suborbital prototype named VEx-1A failed during launch from Pipinas,
Punta Indio Partido Punta Indio Partido is a '' partido'' on the Atlantic coast of Buenos Aires Province in Argentina. It was created in 1994, as an excision from the old Magdalena Partido. The provincial subdivision has a population of about 9,000 inhabitants in ...
. It had only one stage, weigh 2.8 tonnes, thrust of 4 ton, with an expectation of 60 seconds mission duration and expected apogee of 2 km. VEx-1A first launch attempt was postponed in December 2013 due to ground support equipment fail. The second attempt failed on February 26, 2014. It was discovered that the failure was caused by interferences between the launch pad and the rocket, which prevented the vehicle from elevating more than 2m off the ground. The engine control mechanism shut off the fuel valve, preventing an explosion, and the rocket fell down next to the pad.


=VEx-1B

= The first flight of this suborbital vehicle was on 15 August 2014 from Pipinas,
Punta Indio Partido Punta Indio Partido is a '' partido'' on the Atlantic coast of Buenos Aires Province in Argentina. It was created in 1994, as an excision from the old Magdalena Partido. The provincial subdivision has a population of about 9,000 inhabitants in ...
. It successfully tested propulsion, control, and navigation subsystems. The mission concluded with 2,200 m apogee altitude and 27 seconds flight time. It landed in the sea assisted by the recovery parachutes. The vehicle was recovered and examined to determine whether further VEx-1 test rockets are required or if a VEx-2 flight should proceed.


=VEx-5A

= VEx-5A was a two-stage suborbital rocket that was destroyed upon launch. The T-10 first stage is capable of producing 11t of thrust, while the T-4 second stage is capable of 4t of thrust. The rocket was 18 meters long and 1.5 meters diameter, with a total launch weight (including fuel) of 8500 kg. The rocket would have separated from the first stage (the propellants are
liquid oxygen Liquid oxygen—abbreviated LOx, LOX or Lox in the aerospace, submarine and gas industries—is the liquid form of molecular oxygen. It was used as the oxidizer in the first liquid-fueled rocket invented in 1926 by Robert H. Goddard, an applica ...
/
RP-1 RP-1 (alternatively, Rocket Propellant-1 or Refined Petroleum-1) is a highly refined form of kerosene outwardly similar to jet fuel, used as rocket fuel. RP-1 provides a lower specific impulse than liquid hydrogen (LH2), but is cheaper, is st ...
) at 15 km altitude and the second stage would have continued, reaching up to 30 km altitude using
hydrazine Hydrazine is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a simple pnictogen hydride, and is a colourless flammable liquid with an ammonia-like odour. Hydrazine is highly toxic unless handled in solution as, for example, hydrazine ...
/
nitric acid Nitric acid is the inorganic compound with the formula . It is a highly corrosive mineral acid. The compound is colorless, but older samples tend to be yellow cast due to decomposition into oxides of nitrogen. Most commercially available nitri ...
. The vehicle would have tested several technologies, new fuels, and for the first time, the interstage separation (mechanical and automatic aspects), and the ignition of the second stage. The rocket was completed in mid 2015 and scheduled to launch in October 2015, but postponed to November 2016, before postponed again. The test flight finally occurred on 21 April 2017, 18:00 local time from Pipinas,
Punta Indio Partido Punta Indio Partido is a '' partido'' on the Atlantic coast of Buenos Aires Province in Argentina. It was created in 1994, as an excision from the old Magdalena Partido. The provincial subdivision has a population of about 9,000 inhabitants in ...
. The rocket climbed up from its pad, but eight seconds later the first stage rocket engine shut down due to abrupt flow in its fuel lines. Several seconds later, the rocket fell and impacted the launch pad, causing a fiery explosion. The ill-fated launch was announced officially by CONAE several hours after the launch and footage from several angles were made available.


=VEx-5B

= Test flight - single stage 30t thrust engine rocket - it was projected for a 2018 launch from Pipinas,
Punta Indio Partido Punta Indio Partido is a '' partido'' on the Atlantic coast of Buenos Aires Province in Argentina. It was created in 1994, as an excision from the old Magdalena Partido. The provincial subdivision has a population of about 9,000 inhabitants in ...
. The mission was cancelled in 2017, before were announced in November 2021 that the mission were reactivated again.


=VEx-5C

= Test flight - two stage test rocket. First stage 30t thrust engine, second stage VEx-1 engine - it was projected for a 2019 launch from
Puerto Belgrano Naval Base Port Belgrano Naval Base ( es, Base Naval Puerto Belgrano - BNPB) is the largest naval base of the Argentine Navy, situated next to Punta Alta, near Bahía Blanca, about south of Buenos Aires. It is named after the brigantine ''General Bel ...
. The mission was cancelled in 2017, before were announced in November 2021 that the mission were reactivated again.


=VEx-6

= Test flight of the rocket. Not much were known about this rocket at the moment.


Tronador III

The proposed Tronador III would have the same diameter as Tronador II, but would have a length of . The fueled rocket would weight 89 metric tons, and capable of delivering a ton of payload into polar orbit.


Characteristics

Proposed Tronador III configuration: * Length: 34 m * Stages: 2 * Diameter: 2.5 m * Empty mass: 6,600 kg * Total weight: 89,000 kg * Payload mass: 1000 kg * Apogee: 600 km * Lower Stage: 120t total thrust (4 x 30t engines) at sea level. Fuel: RP-1/LOX * Upper stage: 3t thrust (single engine). Fuel: MMH/NTO


See also

*
List of rockets There are several different types of rockets. The following articles contain lists of rockets by type: * List of missiles * List of orbital launch systems * List of sounding rockets * List of military rockets * List of rocket stages See also * C ...
*
Comparison of orbital launch systems This comparison of orbital launch systems lists the attributes of all individual rocket configurations designed to reach orbit. A first list contains rockets that are operational or in development as of 2022; a second list includes all retired roc ...


References


External links


Rocket.com.br
* * * {{Orbital launch systems Sounding rockets of Argentina Space programme of Argentina