The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Maxus-8 sounding rocket has successfully lifted off carrying four microgravity research modules.
The 12t Maxus, with a solid-propellant motor, can lift a load of 800kg up to altitude of 750km.
Three of the experiments on the rocket include work on new titanium-aluminium alloys, nickel particles created from nickel vapour and the diffusion in metallic alloys using X-rays.
Maxus-8 also carried a technology demonstrator, the sounding hypersonic atmospheric reentry kapsule (SHARK), which was released during ascent at an altitude of approximately 150km.
The experiment works on the feasibility of dropping a “blackbox” from outside the atmosphere.
Sounding rockets are used for critical experiments with stringent handling needs, precursor testing of new science protocols and research equipment that may be later used for long-term experiments on the ISS.
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By GlobalDataThe rocket achieved the desired altitude and an excellent microgravity level and the 6.5m-long experiment section landed with a parachute, which will be retrieved for further use.
