What is known about the rocket launched by the FAB into space?
An unmanned rocket was launched into space by the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) this Friday (29). The launch aimed to train the team, in addition to testing equipment and processes.
According to the FAB, the rocket followed the trajectory predicted by technicians and engineers, with the telemetry and radar response systems functioning correctly throughout the flight.
The flight left from the Barreira do Inferno Launch Center, in Parnamirim, Rio Grande do Norte. The vehicle, with 100% national technology, left at 1:19 pm and stayed in space for 2 minutes and 50 seconds. It then fell into the Atlantic Ocean.
The complete mission lasted 5 minutes and 50 seconds and ended the first phase of Operation Potiguar.
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It is a suborbital sounding rocket, model VS-30, about eight meters long and weighing 1.5 tons at takeoff. The vehicle can transport loads of up to 330 kilos. On Friday’s flight, the rocket carried more than a thousand letters written by public school students.
In general, suborbital vehicles, although they do not reach the capacity to enter orbit, reach altitudes that exceed the atmosphere. They are used in scientific and technological experiments that are of interest to various industries, such as pharmaceuticals, metal-mechanical products, food and cosmetics.
According to the general director of the Department of Aerospace Science and Technology (DCTA), air lieutenant Maurício Augusto Silveira de Medeiros, the initiative seeks greater autonomy for Brazil in launch events for this type of vehicle. “We are breaking paradigms and creating perspectives for the future. We have a space complex and, with the launch of this rocket, we demonstrate that Barreira do Inferno is fully capable of holding such events”, he said.
Subordinated to the DCTA, the Barreira do Inferno Launch Center has already carried out more than 3 thousand launches, in 655 operations, in addition to 265 space vehicle tracking events.
In the second phase of Operation Potiguar, scheduled for the second half of 2025, CLBI will use another rocket of the same model to qualify the recovery system for the upper part of the vehicle, known as a suborbital microgravity platform (PSM). This part is made up of a compartment for experiments and several electronic systems that interact with the payload.
