The "rocket" researched by Taiwan Province of my country has taken off. The person in charge of R&D said that it was 99.9% successful. What happened? 99.9% succeed, but 0.1% fail? This statement is indeed surprising. What is going on?
In fact, this rocket is a newly researched rocket after multiple rocket launches failed continuously, and the planned rocket launch was once again delayed due to climate change.
Therefore, Taiwan’s rocket launch this time is really “difficult” and the journey has not been easy. So how powerful is this rocket? Let's take a look.
HTTP-3A rocket "difficult all the way"
In fact, the rocket studied by Taiwan, our country, has been developed as an "HTTP series" and has been launched many times and failed many times. However, this time the HTTP-3A rocket The launch is the first time.
Before it, Taiwan Province of my country also studied the rocket research of "Flying Squirrel 1", which belongs to the HAPITF-1 rocket series. The entire rocket is 10 meters high, 1.5 meters wide, and has a take-off weight of 3 tons to launch satellites and scientific instruments. Mainly for non-military purposes.
But due to bad luck, the money was spent and nothing was left in the end. The launch of the rocket "Flying Squirrel 1" suffered three consecutive failures, and it was finally decided to give up, and it did not carry out the launch mission again after that.
Therefore, the rocket "Flying Squirrel 1" basically ended in "failure".
However, after no more launch attempts for more than half a year, Taiwanese media pointed out that Taiwan has not "given up" on rocket research. The launch plan of another homemade rocket originally scheduled for May was temporarily scrapped because of the heavy rain and wind in the previous two days. Big, the rocket's avionics flight control system malfunctioned, and this rocket was the HTTP-3A rocket.
is an extension of the HTTP series:
HTTP-1 - the first hybrid rocket test launch in Taiwan Province of my country in 2010. The test content is mainly for testing - controlling the thrust through the control of the oxidizer nitrous oxide valve.
HTTP-2α——In 2011, a two-section rocket test was carried out. However, this road soon stopped because during the first launch, the rocket oxidizer gas valve got stuck, causing the rocket to be unable to operate normally. After
, although the problem was eliminated, when the rocket was put on the shelf for ignition and launched again, it was unexpected that it still couldn't be used. As a result, in order to consider the risk, the launch of the HTTP-2α rocket was canceled directly. Then HTTP-2ß was extended.
HTTP-2ß is even more outrageous. During the test in 2013, 2 seconds after the rocket took off, the ground station lost contact with the rocket for unknown reasons. I don’t know where it went. In the end, it was said that it may have crashed into the sea.
Then came the development of the HTTP-3S rocket, which was tested in the rocket test in 2014. According to the Taiwan Research Center of my country, HTTP-3S developed a highly safe hybrid sounding rocket with a total length of 6.35 meters, a diameter of 0.4 meters, and a flying With a height of over 10 kilometers, it is the largest hybrid sounding rocket developed so far by Taiwanese academic circles.
Therefore, after this time, the emergence of HTTP-3A rocket is equivalent to another improvement of HTTP-3S. The main goal is to develop a fully mixed fuel two-section rocket.
Therefore, the emergence of this rocket is equivalent to the development of the previous HTTP series. No, after the emergence of the HTTP-3A rocket, in April 2020, a tethered suspension flight test of the rocket was conducted to verify the system integration and the maturity of various development projects. Therefore, a powerful test launch was necessary to conduct this launch in 2022.
99.9% successful! Our country's Taiwan HTTP-3A rocket fell into the sea 2 minutes after it took off.
As we said above, this is a hybrid rocket. This time, the test was the second stage rocket of the rocket HTTP-3A research and development plan, and it was also the first time for a second stage rocket. Flight, the flight time is about 2 minutes and the altitude is about 3 kilometers.
And the first phase of the trial is what we are talking about in April 2020. This test mainly includes tests of controllable hybrid rocket propulsion technology, rocket flight navigation control technology, rocket launch ground support system, rocket parachute recovery system, etc.
However, this test did not meet expectations. According to Wei Shixin, deputy director of the Forward Rocket Research Center at Taiwan's Yang-Ming Chiao Tung University, the originally scheduled flight time was 8 minutes and an altitude of 12 kilometers. It reached the highest point of 10 kilometers high 85 seconds after launch, and then activated the deceleration parachute. But this time it only took 2 minutes from launch to landing in the sea, which was different from the schedule.
Judging from the observation, only the first 30 seconds were normal. After that, the registration response was enabled and the requirements were met. The rocket was finally recovered by a fishing boat.
However, even if it is only normal for 30 seconds, this does not mean failure. Wei Shixin, deputy director of the center, said that this time it was considered a 99.9% successful launch, that is, only 0.1% failed, preparing for the launch of future rockets and satellites into orbit.
At the same time, he also pointed out that HTTP-3A is the world's first hybrid rocket with guidance and control technology. Although the flight height is not high, it is a major breakthrough in technology. According to the plan, the third phase next year will be a two-section rocket relay flight to an altitude of 100 kilometers for a test flight to prepare the satellite for entering a higher orbit. This is the general situation. How strong is
HTTP-3A?
From the above data, you can also see that the rocket is actually very general and has nothing to brag about. However, Wu Zongxin, director of the "Space Center" of Taiwan Province of my country, is very capable of bragging.
said that the ARRC team's test launch of the world's first hybrid rocket with flight guidance technology not only demonstrated the development energy of space science and technology in Taiwan, but also made Taiwan's independent satellite launch a big step forward.
So, this can scare everyone as "the first in the world". Even if what is said is true, it is not limited to 99.9% success, which means there is still no success.
Therefore, no matter whether it is the experiment from HTTP-1 to HTTP-3A rocket, there is no practical big progress. The "great success" reported by our Taiwanese media is just self-promotion.
Of course, the goal announced by Taiwan Province of my country is still very strong. It independently developed and manufactured the launch vehicle and achieved the ability to transport satellites or other scientific payloads to orbit.
Of course, having said that, if our country Taiwan has such scientific research strength, it is also a matter of concern. This means that relevant satellite launches can be implemented, monitoring satellites, reconnaissance satellites, etc. can be deployed, although it is publicly stated that they are being carried out. It's a scientific experiment, but who knows what changes will happen later.
Therefore, this failure again and again seems to be a good thing. It may be best not to allow it to have the ability to launch rockets.
If we need to launch the relevant scientific experiment satellite , we can also directly provide the data. The scientific research center in Taiwan Province of my country can also save worry and trouble. Why bother with so much expense for rocket launches. As a province, you don’t have to worry so much. If you really need it, the embrace of the motherland will always be open to you and provide support.
