VLS-1

VLS-1
Veículo Lançador de Satélites
*Satellite Launch Vehicle*
	File:Alcantara Base 5.PNG VLS rocket on the launch pad
Function	Orbital launch vehicle
Manufacturer	IAE
Country of origin	Brazil
Size
Height	19.5 m (63.9 ft)
Diameter	1.01 m (3.31 ft)
Mass	50,700 kg (111,700 lb)
Stages	3
Capacity
Payload to LEO	380 kg (830 lb)
Launch history
Status	Active
Launch sites	Centro de Lançamento de Alcântara
Total launches	2
Failure(s)	2
First flight	2 November 1997
Boosters - S-43
No. boosters	4
Engines	1 Solid
Thrust	303 kN (68,100 lbf )
Specific impulse	225 s (2.21 kN·s/kg)
Burn time	59 seconds
Propellant	Solid
First stage - S-43TM
Engines	1 Solid
Thrust	320.6 kN (72,074 lbf)
Specific impulse	277 s (2.72 kN·s/kg)
Burn time	58 seconds
Propellant	Solid
Second stage S-40TM
Engines	1 Solid
Thrust	208.39 kN (46,848 lbf)
Specific impulse	275 s (2.70 kN·s/kg)
Burn time	56 seconds
Propellant	Solid
Third stage - S-44
Engines	1 Solid
Thrust	33.24 kN (7,473 lbf)
Specific impulse	282 s (2.77 kN·s/kg)
Burn time	68 seconds
Propellant	Solid
	[edit on Wikidata]

The VLS - Satellite Launch Vehicle - (Portuguese: "Veículo Lançador de Satélites") is the Brazilian Space Agency's main satellite launch vehicle project^[1] . The project's goal is to develop a launch vehicle capable of launching small general-purpose satellites into orbit. The project is located at the Alcântara Launch Center^[2] due its proximity to the equator.

Associated vehicles include the Sonda I, II, III and IV, the VS-30, VS-40 and VSB-30.

History

VLS-1 development started in 1984, after the first launch of the Sonda IV rocket.

First tests:

1985 December 1 - VLS-R1 VLS-R1 - Failure, apogee of 10 km.
1989 May 18 - VLS-R1 VLS-R2 Apogee of 50 km.

To date, three prototypes have been built and two launches attempted, departing from the Alcântara Launch Center. During the V01 and V02 prototype launches (VLS-1 V01 on 02/12/1997 and VLS-1 V02 on 11/12/1999) technical problems prevented mission success, but allowed the testing of several vehicle components.

The V03 prototype (VLS-1 V03), originally scheduled to launch in 2003, exploded on the pad on August 22 of that year, two days before to its intended launch date. See the 2003 Alcântara VLS accident article for details about this disaster.

The V04 prototype (VLS-1 V04) was originally scheduled for launch in 2006.

Further testing has resumed in 2008.

Developments

Alfa (VLS-2)

The VLS-1 project is being concurrently developed with the VLS-2 project. The VLS-2 project, now called Alfa will be a medium-size launch vehicle, with the purpose of putting satellites into low or geostationary orbits.

VLM

Also, the VLM (Veículo Lançador de Microssatélite) is being studied, with the objective of orbiting satellites up to 100kg. It uses the core of VLS only.

Current schedule

Current VLS-1 schedule is as follows:

2010 - electrical tests with a mockup rocket
2010 - VLS-XVI 01 / VLS-1B (only first two stages active)
2011 - VLS–VT 01 (with only the 4 first stage engines will fire, separation of the second and third stages will be tested)
2012 - VLS–VT 02 (complete rocket test)
2012 - VLS-1 V4 (satellite launch)

References

External links

[1] :: Agência Espacial Brasileira - AEB ::

[2] CLA - Centro de Lançamento de Alcântara

[1]

[2]

v t e Orbital launch systems
List of orbital launch systems Comparison of orbital launch systems
Current	Angara 1.2 A5 Ariane 6 Atlas V Ceres 1 1S Chollima-1 Electron Falcon 9 Block 5 Falcon Heavy Firefly Alpha Gravity-1 GSLV H-IIA H3 Hyperbola-1 Jielong 1 3 KAIROS^† Kaituozhe 2 Kinetica 1 Kuaizhou 1 1A 11 Long March 2C 2D 2F 3A 3B/E 3C 4B 4C 5 5B 6 6A 7 7A 8 11 11H LVM3 Minotaur I IV V C Nuri OS-M1^† Pegasus XL Proton-M PSLV Qaem 100 Qased RS1^† Shavit 2 Simorgh SLS Block 1 Soyuz-2 2.1a / STA 2.1b / STB 2-1v SSLV Starship Tianlong-2 Unha Vega original C Vulcan Centaur Zhuque 2
In development	Antares 330 Bloostar Cyclone-4M Epsilon S Eris Gravity-2 Hyperbola-2 Irtysh Kuaizhou 21 31 Long March 9 10 12 Miura 5 MLV Neutron New Glenn New Line 1 NGLV Nova OS-M 2 4 Orbex Prime Pallas-1 Red Dwarf SLS Block 1B Block 2 Soyuz-7 Terran R Tianlong-3 VLM Vega E Zero Zhuque 3 Zuljanah
Retired	Antares 110 120 130^† 230 230+ Ariane 1 2 3 4 5 ASLV Athena I II Atlas B D E/F G H I II III LV-3B SLV-3 Able^† Agena Centaur Black Arrow Conestoga^† Delta A B C D E G J L M N 0100 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 II III IV IV Heavy Diamant Dnepr Energia Epsilon Europa I^† II^† Falcon 1 Falcon 9 v1.0 v1.1 v1.2 "Full Thrust" Feng Bao 1 GSLV Mk I H-I H-II H-IIB Juno I Juno II Kaituozhe-1 Kosmos original 1 2/2I 3 3M Lambda 4S LauncherOne Long March 1 1D^† 2A 2E 3 3B 4A Mu 4S 3C 3H 3S 3SII V N1^† N-I N-II Naro-1 Paektusan^† Pilot-2^† R-7 Luna Molniya M L Polyot Soyuz original FG L M U U2 Soyuz/Vostok Sputnik Voskhod Vostok L K 2 2M R-29 Shtil' Volna^† Rocket 3 Safir 1 1A 1B Saturn I IB V Scout X-1 Blue Scout II^† X-2^† X-2M X-3 X-3M X-4 X-2B^† B A B-1 D-1 A-1 E-1 F-1 G-1 Shavit original 1 SLV Space Shuttle SPARK^† Sparta SS-520 Start-1 Terran 1^† Thor Able Ablestar 1 2 Agena A B D Burner 1 2 Delta DSV-2U Thorad-Agena SLV-2G SLV-2H Titan II GLV IIIA IIIB IIIC IIID IIIE 34D 23G CT-3 IV Tsyklon R-36-O original 2 3 Universal Rocket UR-500 Proton Proton-K Rokot Strela Vanguard VLS-1^† Zenit 2 2M 2FG 3SL 3SLB 3F Zhuque 1^†
Classes	Sounding rocket Small-lift launch vehicle Medium-lift launch vehicle Heavy-lift launch vehicle Super heavy-lift launch vehicle
This Template lists historical, current, and future space rockets that at least once attempted (but not necessarily succeeded in) an orbital launch or that are planned to attempt such a launch in the future Symbol ^† indicates past or current rockets that attempted orbital launches but never succeeded (never did or has yet to perform a successful orbital launch)