Progeny Mk7-A Timeline

September may have been a rough month financially, but we remain in decent standing with just enough funds to complete our planned operations for the year. Thanks as always to our bit.ly/KSA_Patreon supporters! docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d…

still, this was much less than the level of tolerance that was planned to be demonstrated so we still need a good result from the Kerbin I impact from orbit to fully certify the RTG casing as safe to actually carry radioactive material and power future orbital satellites

theory is the fins failed to lock neutral when control was severed. This would have left them slightly angled with final control inputs, which then spun up and lifted the stage higher before they shredded. Also the big nose dragged the rocket back more than previous Mk6 ascents

all hail the week end! Rocketry crews will be enjoying a well-earned break next week before the lead up to the next launch in October. See what else has transpired and get more information via our Ops Summary: kerbalspace.agency/?p=9834

even without the recovery of the RTG casing, the mission still proved the Ospray engine capable of controlling the rocket via thrust vectoring and the guidance fins also gave engineers more data for the larger versions that will go on the Ascension Mk1 & Mk2

✨🎉KERZZAHH!🎊✨ airship is on its way back to Sheltered Rock with the RTG casing! Although it still needs to be closely inspected to see if it performed as designed, the ability for engineers to do this was the goal and therefore marks this mission as a success

radio beacon in RTG casing only good to ~2km so they have to get close and have a large area to search. One upside tho is not searching the mountains as planned, which could have taken days due to commonly poor weather making airship travel through there hazardous

post-launch operations winding down, MSV Lymun has moved off station after returning our weather balloon payload & confirms the first & second stage boosters splashed downrange. Airship is out of comms range & ~45min from the recovery area to begin searching for the RTG

we've lost contact with the main payload section over the horizon and although it likely landed in water the impact force would have still damaged all components beyond repair. We are only aiming to recover the RTG casing intact later today for mission success

while the main payload section is still plummeting through the atmosphere right now, the RTG continues to coast through space and will fall back to Kerbin ~20km further downrange. The airship from Sheltered Rock has already left its berth and is heading for the area

after losing the extra mass, the reaction wheels required less power and were much better at being able to point & hold. Several orientation commands were sent before SAS was deactivated prior to atmospheric re-entry, which will begin seconds from now

controllers have determined that with the mass of the fuel tanks & engine still attached, the reaction wheels are drawing power faster than the batteries can discharge. This was anticipated though & a decoupler can separate the payload element

we are about to pass through apokee & the SAS system is still trying to use the reaction wheels to orient & hold the rocket facing radial out (pointing away from Kerbin), which it was commanded to do almost half a minute ago but keeps over-correcting

reaction wheel system was successfully activated and used, after some trouble, to maintain prograde orientation. The RTG was then shot off via a decoupler to ensure it makes it over land. Had the rocket followed the planned profile, RTG would have remained attached

ascent complete & the rocket is coasting up to just 117km apokee, so controllers are scrambling to ensure mission objectives are met within the much shorter time than planned - rocket will re-enter in only ~4min instead of closer to 9. Much more drag than anticipated in modeling!

a cheer went up through Launch Control as the 3rd stage ignited & held the rocket steady! 2nd stage was kept after MECO-2 to continue use of fins but almost dragged the rocket too far off prograde as it slowed down. High AoA warnings was a tense moment. GO PROGENY!

rocket is off course but that was expected given how little we know about its flight characteristics, something we hope to improve with this flight. 1st stage booster nearly contacted the rocket after separation but thankfully missed. 2nd stage boost underway & nominal

ignition and LIFT OFF!! 3.6Gs of force pushes the rocket clear of the VAB's shadow as it tips over, clearing the towers and aiming downrange along a heading of 45.5°. 35s from now will see MECO-1 and stage separation followed by a coast phase up to 15km before MES-2

[T-1m] rocket will soon give its readiness report and a final GO/NO GO at T-30s will be carried out prior to launch commit. Tune in now for live ascent telemetry on the Ops Tracker! ops.kerbalspace.agency Let's make it to space this time!

[T-2m] service arm has been detached, rocket is on internal power and RF comm check underway while EC drain levels monitored. AFCS has taken control of the rocket and has begun running through the final automated launch sequence to check all is ready for ignition

[L-5m] weather is GO! All stations are GO! A small cheer can be heard from the crowd outside as controllers inch a little closer to their consoles in anticipation. Ops Director @DKerman_KSA has granted launch permission - 🚀 GO PROGENY!! 🚀 Standing by for Terminal Count

all stations quiet except for the weather desk, as meteorologists analyze the upper-atmospheric data that started coming in about 10 minutes ago. Surface winds have just gone green, we just have to keep fingers crossed the air high above has calmed down some as well

[L-15m] RSO has confirmed pad clear, airspace clear, waters clear and closed the range. Rocket is now ARMED, Flight Termination System ACTIVE. All visitors should be returning to viewing locations

[L-30m] surface winds are yellow but continue to trend downwards and we have a GO to continue the countdown. All launch support crew remained on stand-by without need for relief and are picking up right where we left off earlier in the day cycle

latest weather report shows wind speeds are trending downwards! if it continues we should have a GO to resume countdown @ 19:20 UTC. In the meanwhile, mess hall behind the Astronaut Complex is open to all visitors still waiting around, as well as the static displays

new L-0 has been set for 19:50 UTC - as late as possible. Surface winds remain red but our 2nd weather balloon has now released anyways because any later and it won't make it up in time for our final launch target. We continue to hope the winds will die down during its ascent

because we don't care if the payload lands at night, the launch window is open to 30min prior to sunset - we want some daylight remaining for visual tracking as this rocket design is still new & post-flight analysis will rely heavily on video review of ascent

we will remain holding at L-30min launch readiness - updated forecast still holds a good chance surface winds will calm by the end of the day cycle. Conditions will continue to be monitored and a second weather balloon is being prepared while recovery of the first is underway

weather desk confirms upper atmosphere is also too disturbed for safe ascent conditions. Launch team is waiting for the meteorologists to further analyze data & pull in updated regional reports to see if we have a chance of launching later this day cycle

[HOLD] although rehearsal went well and everything is resetting for the actual launch, weather conditions have not improved as expected and surface winds remain in the red. We will stand by @ L-30min for data from the weather balloon on upper atmosphere conditions in ~20min

[L-45m] prior to final countdown a full launch rehearsal will now get underway to ensure all systems and assets are properly configured. It's also an opportunity for FD Lanalye to sometimes throw in some minor last-minute problems for her team to solve

[L-1h20m] weather balloon has been released, timed so its slow ~5m/s ascent to the upper atmosphere at 18km+ will be reached in time for data analysis prior to the L-5min general polls. We're not expecting calm conditions, but hopefully within tolerances

[L-1h30m] all rocket systems have been checked out and cleared for flight. Pad crew is moving back in to secure the launch site while MSV Lymun, just arriving on station offshore, will coordinate with the Range Safety Officer to ensure our launch corridor is clear

[L-2h40m] issue board has been cleared as pre-flight reaches the point of system checks on the 3 engines. For safety in the unlikely event of an unplanned engine start pad crew is clearing back to 300m with a Quick Reaction Team sheltering in the nearby bunker

[L-3h25m] rocket has sucked up 220kg of fuel to fill its tanks, the levels of which will now be closely monitored to ensure no leaks exist. Pad crew unhooking the truck & cleaning up while launch controllers resume pre-flight system checks

[L-3h35m] rocket and launch pad have both been configured for tanking and the GO has been given to begin onload of liquid propellants to the third stage through the service tower boom, fed from a small fuel truck hooked up to the base

[L-4h10m] we have a GO from the weather desk to continue pre-launch ops, as high winds are expected to die down by launch time. Launch controllers are now waking the rocket and onloading flight code - details can be found at bit.ly/AFCS_ChangeLog

the goals of the original Mk7-A mission still apply as well - once in space the reaction wheel system will be activated to attempt to reorient the final stage. If it is too much mass, the payload element can be decoupled from the fuel tanks

the payload is an RTG test article, which will be crashed into the mountains so it has less opportunity to slow down before impact. We have to ensure casing can survive an uncontrolled re-entry as designed. It contains the radio & internal batt power to be located afterwards

[L-4h40m] Flight Director Lanalye has assembled her B team for their final mission brief. The Mk7-A has been modified from original spec to remove the chute and instead carry an additional payload within a new fairing shell that we plan to also use on Ascension rockets

[L-5h10m] all launch support crew have reported for duty & pre-launch operations are getting underway here at KSC as regional weather reports are gathered from stations, airships & MSVs. Expect updates at the milestones listed on this countdown timeline

all launch readiness reviews have been submitted & approved by Operations Director @DKerman_KSA - we are 🚀 GO FOR LAUNCH 🚀 tomorrow. Pre-launch ops will commence at 12:15 UTC. Forecast has weather at 65% GO - depends largely on what a storm out at sea does

downrange tracking at Sheltered Rock & Ockr reports they are prepared to receive and relay telemetry data. Airship at Sheltered Rock is standing by for recovery operations. If we aimed this right the payload should crash down in the mountains just to the northeast

learn more about today's decision to delay the Mk2 orbital attempt in our weekly Ops Summary: kerbalspace.agency/?p=9801 Have a great weekend everyone, and we look forward to this one especially at KSC. Anyone know why?

basic reason is better guidance comes with less fin angle, but more fin angle is needed to fly the planned orbital trajectory so Ascension will wait to get better data on Progenitor's steerable fins after this month's launch, then scale them up for the Mk2

wrap it up folks, weekend is here! Get caught up on all our operations this past week with additional details via our Ops Summary: kerbalspace.agency/?p=9767 it's been mostly crummy weather all week so let's all hope for a turn-around this weekend

depending on how the next Mk7-A flight goes will help to decide whether to make the full Mk7-B stack 0.625m, which is the eventual Mk7 goal but we'd like to stick to the 0.35m 3rd stage parts that are currently being manufactured as much as possible for as long as possible

contract evaluation by the Progenitor team is well underway for a new 0.625m solid rocket booster that will either replace the 1st and 2nd stages of the Mk7 entirely or just replace the 0.35m second stage solid booster. This will become the basis for the Mk7-B

the RTG is another test article like the one that will be flown on the Progeny Mk7-A to further check the ability of the casing to withstand re-entry and impact - possibly the first test if the Mk7-A mission fails again. We plan for the RTG to be flight certified by mid-2020

going into the weekend with a good report from the VAB saying the rocket is ready to go next week. Astronauts got in some good water training the past few days & will partake in a survival expedition this weekend. Catch up on what else went down via kerbalspace.agency/?p=9588

the award will also enable us to send Val, next in rotation, to space no earlier than Sept while also sending up another unkerbed Mk1 w/ the older capsule for more testing of Extremis instruments. Not enough tho for another Progeny Mk7-A flight unless KB/Genesis can help w/income

now that MSV Aldeny is berthed in Sheltered Rock & doesn't have to travel from Umbarg to the recovery area off Ockr, w/o long delays requiring resupply we should have cheaper mission costs. This past mission ran up a bill slightly greater than the usual 6,200 funds MSV rental

TL;DR - rocket needs to get higher up before 3rd stage kicks in. Excellent performance by the new guidance fins. Not so excellent performance by the guidance computer (similar to Ascension). Funds to build the next Mk7-A are currently lacking, Ascension takes precedence

allow us to remind everyone that bit.ly/KSA_Patreon is a way to help directly fund operations - more money means more rockets means more launches means more exploration! Of course, responsibility still lies with us to also produce viable commercial launch vehicles

launch video showing the support arms folding away 5s prior to launch. If they aren't down and locked by T-1s the flight computer will abort the launch on the assumption that one has gotten stuck in the way of the rocket youtube.com/watch?v=9x8MJL…

rough day! This isn't the first time we've had a new rocket design fail on us though - we must push beyond the limits to find them. Post-flight analysis will help refine the Mk7 design for future launches to have a greater chance at success

unfortunately but also unsurprisingly no trace of the rocket has been found. It impacted the water at 156m/s according to the last packet of telemetry data we received. All debris and spent stages landed safely in the predesignated downrange fallout zone

good initial chute deployment was confirmed by the tracking camera however the chute failed to fully open fast enough to slow the payload down before it crashed into the Kerblantic just 7.8km downrange. MSV Tongjess is moving in to see if anything survived the impact

Ops Tracker should still be showing telemetry data stream but the Info Box image is updating based on preset events that assumed the rocket would make it to space. Chute was armed by the control unit and deployment should be any second now...

what remains of the rocket is about to pass through apokee after a breakup following 3rd stage ignition. We are still getting telemetry data so probe core is functioning, has detected the anomaly and should arm chute - if not controllers are standing by

LIFT OFF!! Rocket has shot off into the blue with the lower booster pumping out 67kN of thrust for just under 4TWR. It will cut out and detach for the second stage to ignite after 34 seconds. Lower guidance fins will orient the rocket to 54° and begin pitch over

[T-1m] battery drain rates good, comm status good. final primary stations poll coming up at T-30s along with live telemetry activation on ops.kerbalspace.agency Support arms will swing down 5s prior to booster ignition

[T-2m] terminal countdown has begun with the AFCS taking control of the rocket as the service arm swings away. FTS was already on internal power and now so is the rest of the rocket. RF comm check underway by controllers as battery drain is monitored

[L-5m] we are within launch commit for upper-level conditions! Final general readiness polls are all GO! Launch permission has been granted by @DKerman_KSA. All eyes are glued to monitors as the remaining minutes tick down to seconds. Nervousness fades. Anticipation builds

[L-15m] pad is clear, range is clear, RSO has closed down both and rocket is now ARMED. Flight Termination System is ACTIVE. Any incursion to within 300m of the launch pad will hold the countdown. Any attempts will be thwarted twitter.com/KSA_MissionCtr…

[L-30m] still green weather conditions and launch rehearsal was clean so we are GO for final countdown procedures! Final pad evacuation underway as controllers reset for launch

[L-45m] balloon is only at ~11km by now, we won't know details of upper atmosphere until just before final polls at L-5min. Final launch rehearsal is underway in launch control to ensure all systems and assets are setup and properly configured

[L-1h20m] weather balloon has been released. First flight of a new rocket means we have very strict constraints on conditions in the upper atmosphere. If any hold is called it's most likely because of this. Be nice to us today, @upperlevelwinds!

[L-1h30m] smoooooth preflight! Rocket is all set to go, now to finish up external tasks like securing the pad, recovery and range. Range Safety Officer is in touch with MSV Tongjess offshore and launch team is patched through to MSV Hoodall through Ockr relay

although Lanalye requested the ability to run vector checks on the Ospray, Simon had to deny that & just do extensive testing during integration since the interstage shroud could not be made thin enough to support the third stage and allow for movement of the engine inside

[L-2h40m] rocket continues to look healthy and no issues are being worked as pad workers clear out so controllers can move into engine and ignition checks. Quick Response Team has sheltered in the pad bunker

new rocket means a lot of new and old visitors coming out to see its first flight. Please stay within your designated areas & obey the instructions of KSC employees in the event of an emergency. Just because we point a rocket away from you doesn't mean that's where it's going

[L-3h25m] tanking was completed without issues, pad crew is cleaning up after themselves while the launch team proceeds with preflight checks. Tank levels will be monitored closely to ensure there are no leaks in the plumbing

[L-3h35m] pad & rocket are configured for tanking and the GO has been given to onload the 220kg of liquid propellants to the third stage via the service tower umbilical arm

Automated Flight Control System update features some new instruction load commands, a whole new set of operations code for the Mk7-A with better fault tolerance. We are also testing a new guidance system that wasn't ready in time for this mission. bit.ly/AFCS_ChangeLog

[L-4h10m] Monolith is chilled, weather is good, team is briefed and we are GO to begin preflight! Pad crew is heading out to prep for fueling while controllers wake up the rocket to onload flight instructions and configure systems ops.kerbalspace.agency

the flight was designed with very general drag calculations given lack of flight data for the Mk7 so we expect the rocket to under perform more than we would expect of the Ascension Mk1, but it should still make it to the ocean east of Ockr

in addition to checking out the steering and guidance of the Mk7 we'll be using this flight to test a trajectory that could give a more comfortable ride to Ascension astronauts

[L-4h40m] weather desk has all the reports they need to put together a more accurate launch forecast while Flight Director Lanalye assembles her team for a final briefing, which as you can see today's flight will closely mimic that of the Ascension Mk1

[L-5h10m] thanks to having time to perform a wet dress rehearsal last week among other checks, we'll be rolling into a clean countdown with no planned holds today. Here are the major milestones, very similar to a Mk6 just more time needed thx to increased rocket complexity

make sure you know all that happened this week and learn more details via our Ops Summary - kerbalspace.agency/?p=9247

Flight Director Lanalye got the time she wanted to give the rocket a full systems checkout and reports it is healthy and ready for flight. Ops Dir @DKerman_KSA has reviewed all readiness reports & given approval for launch next week - 🚀 GO PROGENY! 🚀 ops.kerbalspace.agency

Progeny Mk6 Block II that was scheduled to launch on 6/25 is now being bumped to 6/27 @ 15:49 UTC to give time for the launch pad to be turned around since the engine support collar will need to be removed for the Mk6 launch base prior to rollout on 6/26

Progeny MK7-A launch has been delayed until next week, but not by FD Lanalye - Ockr relay antenna is not testing well & it will take at least 3 days to work out the issue due to its high and remote location. New L-0 set for 6/24 @ 18:30 UTC

Progeny Mk7-A is headed back to the VAB so some adjustments can be made to the support structures on the launchpad that help hold the lower booster, and the service tower connection ports on the rocket itself need tightening. We plan to attempt another roll out tomorrow

construction wrapped up today at the launch pad for the new crew access tower and service arms. Thanks to a modular design the large pieces had already been assembled off-site and airshipped in for placement. We are now ready to support 5 different rockets on one pad!

Mk7-A was brought back down to horizontal but this time as a fully assembled rocket to begin final checkouts. Not actually carrying a real payload, VAB teams are just focusing on the overall assembly to make sure everything was done properly on this first attempt

the Mk1 will still be rolled out horizontally so the astronaut will board just prior to the rocket being raised vertical. The new launchpad configuration will still be able to support Progeny Mk7 launches as well

because it uses a lot of major parts that have already been manufactured, the first launch could be as early as June and interspersed between the launches of our remaining three Ascension Mk1 lifters (although one is still missing an engine)

we expect several iterations as it's already known the SRM-L will need to be replaced with a more powerful solid and the SRM-XL needs to revert back to its old core, which can output up to 145kN of thrust ASL for the larger payloads that will be carried

say hello to the Progeny Mk7-A, the first iteration on the path to a cheaper small-sat option for deploying 0.35-0.625m payloads to low-Kerbin orbit (<250km). Unable to make orbit, this rocket will be a technology pathfinder. More info: kerbalspace.agency/?p=8963