We’ve learned a lot over this past year with the Progenitor program, mostly that we still have much more to learn when it comes to building and flying rockets. The only way we’re going to get that additional knowledge is by trying and the time has come to try to establish a permanent presence in space. The Ascension program will aim for the goal of placing a probe into orbit next year!

What’s In a Name?

Rockets go up, and going upwards can also be referred to as ascending, which is probably the first thing that would come to someone’s mind when seeing a rocket program called Ascension. There’s a double-meaning here though, because the word ascension can mean more than simply going up, but also reaching a new level or higher position. We are indeed aiming above what has been achieved before and even though we can already send rockets higher than the altitudes we would initially aim to orbit at, staying up there is a whole new level of technology and knowledge. Speaking of technology…

Getting to Orbit

We already have the power to reach orbit. Based on the performance of the Progeny Mk5 Block I we’ve calculated the Block II has enough Δv to insert into a very eccentric orbit with a perikee 20-50km outside of the atmosphere. This would be horribly complex to achieve however because the Mk5 lacks the ability to control its flight path other than to coast between burns and let its nose fall to flatten out the trajectory. The timing would need to be very precise and well-calculated, especially since none of the engines can be lit more than once and only one can be throttled.

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