Launching a rocket means turning on a super-powerful bonfire, capable of propelling it into space until it reaches a predetermined altitude and, once there, putting a satellite or a research probe into orbit. The trip is not that long: the lowest orbits are only 200 km high. You could get there in two hours by car – if not, of course, for one detail: gravity, the force that the planet exerts on objects that want to leave it, something like a powerful downward pull. Since you can’t take a road, the way is to spend about US$ 10 million to assemble a rocket. All this money is burned in a maximum of nine minutes, the time elapsed between launching at the base and placing the satellite in orbit. But in this case, it looks like the money is worth it. Every year, hundreds of rockets are launched into space with varied missions, in a market that moves at least US$ 25 billion a year. Brazil made its rocket, the Satellite Launch Vehicle (VLS), to grab a slice of that market.
PIECE BY PIECE
Four thruster stages make the rocket overcome gravity
– (Alexandre Jubran/)
FIREWOOD IN THE FIRE
Ascent depends on burning solid or liquid fuels
– (Alexandre Jubran/)
LIQUID FUEL – To generate the gases that push the rocket, two substances are needed: the fuel and the oxidizer. When they are liquid, they are in separate tanks and are only found in a special chamber, with an opening for the jet to exit.
SOLID FUEL – Fuel and oxidizer can also be solid – in this case, they are together in the same tank. They just don’t light up ahead of time because a spark is needed for that, triggered when starting the engine. This is the model used by the Brazilian VLS
A SPACE ODYSSEY
No useless weight: each stage turns to rubbish at the end of its work
– (Alexandre Jubran/)
1. The first step of the launch is to light the “fire” that propels the rocket. This is done with the help of an ignitor, triggered by an electrical signal from the control center. The ignitor works like a wick that travels inside the tank and starts burning the fuel.
two. The rocket’s first booster stage works during the initial 60 seconds of flight. At the end of that time, it reaches about 30 km of altitude, at a speed of 6,000 km/h. When it empties, an electronic system releases the four engines from the stage, which fall into the sea reducing the weight of the set.
3. The second stage starts working in the last five seconds of action of the first and also burns for 60 seconds. Two minutes after launch, the VLS is already at an altitude of 100 km, at almost 10,000 km/h. At this point, the 2nd stage is released and falls
4. The third stage burns for another 60 seconds and goes out after three minutes of operation, at an altitude of 230 km and 5,000 km/h. Without engines, the rocket’s speed slows down because of gravity. But it keeps going up because the air resistance is too small to stop it.
5. The rocket is off for six to ten minutes, the time needed for the control module’s on-board computer to tip over. This maneuver, made with the help of compressed gas mini-propellers, releases the satellite and leaves the rocket sideways in relation to Earth, ideal for entering orbit.
6. The fourth stage is turned on when the rocket is close to an altitude of 750 km, the area in which the satellite will operate. The engine burns for 60 seconds and accelerates to 27,000 km/h, the speed needed to enter orbit at that altitude.
7. If the VLS payload is a research probe instead of a satellite, it spends some time in orbit and lands at the programmed time and place, floating and spraying orange paint. The fall is cushioned by a parachute and the rescue is facilitated by a GPS device.