Haas (rocket)
Haas is a family of rocket space launchers developed by ARCA for the Google Lunar X Prize competition and for their national manned space program. It consists of Haas balloon-launched orbital rocket, Haas 2 airplane-launched orbital rocket, Haas 2b ground-launched suborbital rocket and Super Haas ground-launched orbital rocket.
It was named after Conrad Haas, a medieval rocket pioneer who lived and worked in what is now Romania, and was the first person to describe a multistage rocket in writing.
Haas
Haas was a Romanian carrier rocket, which was developed by ARCA as part of the ELE programme. It was designed to be air-launched from a high-altitude balloon, similar to the American Rockoon experiments of the 1950s. Prior to the development of Haas, ARCA had already launched two Stabilo rockets from balloons. It is fueled by hydrogen peroxide and bitumen.
The Haas rocket is a three-stage rocket capable of placing 400 kilograms of payload into low Earth orbit. Its maiden flight will carry the European Lunar Explorer spacecraft, ARCA's entry into the Google Lunar X-Prize, following a series of engine tests which began in 2009.
It was abandoned when ARCA decided to stop using solar and helium balloons for their space program.
Haas 2
Haas 2 is an orbital two-stage launcher intended to be carried under the fuselage of the IAR 111 supersonic plane. It is powered by the new Executor liquid-fueled rocket engine under development at ARCA. Its intended launch altitude is approximately 17,000 m. It is able to place a 400 kg payload into low Earth orbit.[citation needed]
Haas 2b
Haas 2b is a suborbital single-stage manned rocket able to lift a payload of 2,600 kg consisting of the crew capsule and the service module to an altitude of 180 km. It is intended to be the first Romanian rocket to launch a cosmonaut into space.[citation needed]
General characteristics
- Crew: two
- Length: 16 m
- Diameter: 1.4 m
- Weight: 24,000 kg
- Maximum altitude: 180 km
Haas 2c
Haas 2c is a flight testing platform for the Executor engine. Is an intented single stage to orbit vehicle due to is lightweight fuel tanks and will be launched in spring 2013. ARCA announced that after the successful flight test of Executor engine, they will construct a multi-stage rocket based on Haas 2c in order to win the Google Lunar X Prize competition. Engine tests are scheduled to begin in June 2012 [1]
General characteristics
- Length: 18 m
- Diameter: 1.2 m
- Empty weightl: 510 kg
- Weight with fuel: 16,000 kg
- Engine thrust: 230,000 N
- Engine burn time: 3 min
- Fuel burn rate: 85 kg/s
Super Haas
Super Haas is an orbital two-stage manned rocket intended to place into low Earth orbit a payload of 2,600 kg consisting of the crew capsule and the service module. The first stage consists of seven Haas 2 rockets and the second stage will be equipped with two Executor Plus rocket engines adapted for vacuum flight. It is intended to be the first Romanian rocket to launch a "Romanian cosmonaut" into orbit.[citation needed]
General characteristics
The Super Haas specifications are:[citation needed]
- Crew: two
- Length: 29 m
- Diameter: 3.8 m
- Weight: 130,000 kg
- First Stage Thrust: 1,680,000 N
See also
References
- ^ "Haas 2C orbital rocket presented in Victory Square in Bucharest". Mediafax. Retrieved 2012-06-03.
- "Haas Orbital Rocket Launcher" (pdf). ARCA. 2008-12-23. Retrieved 2008-12-25.
- "Romanian Space Program" (pdf). ARCA. 2012-02-25. Retrieved 2012-03-08.