Skyrora attempts suborbital Skylark L rocket launch from Iceland

Author: EIS Release Date: Oct 25, 2022

Edinburgh-based rocket company Skyrora has attempted to launch its suborbital Skylark L rocket from a site in Langanes, Iceland into space.

 

Skyrora attempts suborbital Skylark L rocket launch from Iceland

 

It marks, says the company, another milestone on its way to commercial viability, following on from a successful 2nd stage static fire test of their orbital rocket, Skyrora XL, in the summer.

 

The goal for Skyrora is the first vertical orbital launch from UK soil in 2023, with the Skylark L attempt serving to test critical processes and components ahead of the planned full orbital launch from the UK.

 

The company was using its “mobile spaceport” system, with the launch attempt completed within seven days of arriving on site. The entire launch operation is containerised to enable easier transportation and quick deployment. The shipping of the vehicle and facilities taking less than a month.

 

Skylark L is Skyrora’s 11m suborbital rocket, capable of reaching 4x the speed of sound and an altitude of over 125 km. The company says that 70% of the technology tested in the Skylark L launch attempt will be applied to the systems of the Skyrora XL vehicle, “providing a key incremental learning opportunity to increase technological readiness ahead of vertical orbital launch next year”.

 

The launch, however, wasn’t fully successful. The vehicle left the launch pad but experienced an anomaly, landing in the Norwegian Sea approximately 500 metres away from the launch site.

 

“Skyrora is continuously propelling itself towards UK launch,” said Volodymyr Levykin, Founder and CEO of Skyrora.

 

“Our launch attempt in Iceland is a testament to building connections between nations, as well as the hard work of the Skyrora team, who worked against all odds to make the attempt happen, including harsh weather conditions and extremely low temperatures around which our equipment has never been tested.

 

Second stage

Back in August, Skyrora successfully completed a static fire test of the second stage of its flagship Skyrora XL orbital rocket.

 

Discover Space UK, at the Machrihanish Airbase on the Kintyre peninsula, hosted the integrated stage test, and it moved Skyrora closer to entering commercial operations.

 

The company says an inaugural orbital launch is scheduled for 2023 from the SaxaVord Space Centre in the Shetland Islands (Lamba Ness, Unst).

 

“This suborbital launch attempt of a rocket developed in Scotland is another exciting step on Skyrora’s journey towards launching from the UK,” said Matt Archer, Director of Commercial Spaceflight at the UK Space Agency.

 

“Our strong international relationships with partners such as Iceland are vital for our own launch ambitions. By harnessing the opportunities provided by commercial spaceflight, we are creating highly skilled jobs and local opportunities across the country.”

 

Pictured below is the Second Stage of its 23-metre Skyrora XL rocket.

 

By 2030, Skyrora aims to conduct 16 launches per year from the Saxavord launch complex in the Shetland Islands alone.

 

PLD Space

It’s not just Iceland that has been offering competition to the UK for a first European space launch.

 

At the end of last month, the Spanish company PLD Space successfully completed a full mission test of its small launcher, the rocket MIURA 1.

 

“PLD Space enters history by performing for the first time in Europe a full mission test of an integrated microlauncher,” it said.

 

The first launch of MIURA 1 is scheduled for the last quarter of 2022 in El Arenosillo, in the region of Huelva in Spain.