BLOOSTAR ORBITAL ROCKOON

THE PROBLEM WITH rockets is the fuel they carry. Rocket designers need to take the weight of the fuel itself into account when deciding how much is required to launch people or satellites into orbit. But if you could take a rocket high into atmosphere on a balloon, you could save a lot of weight. That’s the idea behind the ‘rockoon’, and Spanish company zero2infinity has just announced one called bloostar. It won’t replace today’s heavy lift rockets. But it is big enough to launch microsatellites – payloads up to 75kg – into orbit.

The balloon is filled with helium gas and is launched from an ocean-going vessel to reduce wind issues. The launch takes place in multiple stages to take the satellite into orbit. Once each stage has fired it drops out of the sky, to be recovered later. This clean launch process uses less fuel, as ignition does not take place until the vehicle is above 99 per cent of the planet’s atmosphere.

Its pressure-fed liquid-fuelled engines are also cost-effective. The rockets are ignited in near-vacuum conditions, translating to less drag and more effective use of nozzles.

The system has already been tested, with successful results. The bloostar will be operating by 2017 and zero2infinity says it’s already had interest from microsatellite companies.