VLS-1

The VLS ( Veículo Lançador de Satélites ) is a Brazilian launcher, which is based on the sounding rocket Sonda 4. You should be able to carry satellites of up to 350 kg into a low Earth orbit. So far, no successful launch has been successful.

Construction

The rocket consists of three stages with solid drive. In the first phase of the start is assisted by four boosters. All engines use APCP ( ammonium perchlorate, aluminum powder and polybutadiene) as fuel.

The total height of the VLS is 19.7 m, its mass about 49.6 t.

The individual parts of the rocket are made in São Paulo from CTA ( Comando - Geral de Tecnologia Aeroespacial ) in São José dos Campos and transported to the launch site Alcântara.

Flights

Test flights

On 1 December 1985, on 18 May 1989 that was held test flights with the smaller version of VLS - R1. Starting place the Centro de Lançamento da Barreira do Inferno was in Natal.

The maiden flight of the VLS should take place under the designation V01 on November 2, 1997. The payload consisted of the Satellite SCD -2A. When starting at 12:25 GMT but failed one of the boosters, so that the self-destruction mechanism of the rocket had to be triggered.

The second launch took place under the designation V02 on 11 December 1999 at 18:25 GMT. This time, failed the second stage, so that the rocket had to be blown a second time, whereby the research satellite SACI 2 was lost.

Disaster

The next launch was first scheduled for October 2002 but was postponed until on May 7 and then on June 20, 2003 and finally set on August 25, 2003. As a payload, the two satellites SATEC and UNOSAT were provided.

Fired three days before the scheduled start, on 22 August 2003 when working on the launcher a booster prematurely, after which the whole rocket exploded. This cost 21 people their lives and another 20 were injured. The loss of experts, rocket and launch facilities was a major setback for the Brazilian space program.

Future

After the explosion, more test flights have been suspended and first checked the previous development. In 2008 the project was resumed, and tested the second stage engine. A satellite launch was scheduled for 2012 to 2015. Current plans envisage a test flight with a two-stage variant of the VLS -1 for 2012 or 2013. A flight of the complete rocket without payload is to take place in 2014, the first launch of a satellite in 2015.

Parallel to the VLS - 1, the types VLS -2 and VLM ( Veículo Lançador de Microssatélite ) are developed, which are based on the VLS -1, but use some other steps.