{"id":10066,"date":"2024-07-18T00:21:44","date_gmt":"2024-07-17T16:21:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/vaya-space-receives-pathfinding-liquid-oxygen-tank-shell-for-its-dauntless-rocket\/"},"modified":"2024-07-18T00:21:44","modified_gmt":"2024-07-17T16:21:44","slug":"vaya-space-receives-pathfinding-liquid-oxygen-tank-shell-for-its-dauntless-rocket","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/vaya-space-receives-pathfinding-liquid-oxygen-tank-shell-for-its-dauntless-rocket\/","title":{"rendered":"Vaya Space receives pathfinding liquid oxygen tank shell for its Dauntless rocket"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_66767\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-66767\" style=\"width: 876px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-66767\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/20240717_Vaya_Space_LOX_tank_delivered.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"876\" height=\"493\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/20240717_Vaya_Space_LOX_tank_delivered.jpg 876w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/20240717_Vaya_Space_LOX_tank_delivered-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/20240717_Vaya_Space_LOX_tank_delivered-678x381.jpg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/20240717_Vaya_Space_LOX_tank_delivered-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 876px) 100vw, 876px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-66767\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A liquid oxygen tank shell was delivered from Scorpius Space Launch Company in California to Vaya Space in Florida on Monday, July 15, 2024. This will serve as a pathfinding test article as Vaya Space continues working on its forthcoming Dauntless rocket. Image: Will Robinson-Smith\/Spaceflight Now<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>A delivery from California to Florida on Monday marked a new milestone for aerospace company, Vaya Space. It received its first, full-sized liquid oxygen tank shell for its two-stage Dauntless rocket.<\/p>\n<p>The company, based in Cocoa, Florida, about 13 miles from the gates of Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, is working towards its first orbital launch in 2026.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve been working on the design of the Dauntless vehicle for almost two years now, ever since we did our flight tests out in Mohave to prove out the last questions we had on the basic engine technology,\u201d said Robert Fabian, Vaya Space\u2019s Chief Operating Officer. \u201cAnd so, what we\u2019re seeing now is our dream, this, come to life. It\u2019s an amazing moment for the company.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/GTUKV01crd0\" width=\"678\" height=\"381\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The company was founded in 2017 by Sid Gutierrez, a former NASA astronaut and Space Shuttle commander. He was the first U.S.-born, Hispanic astronaut.<\/p>\n<p>The name \u201cVaya Space\u201d stems from the final call to the crew of STS-59 about two minutes before liftoff when the Orbiter Test Conductor in launch control said, \u201cEndeavour, close and lock your visors, initiate O2 flow, and \u2018Vaya con Dios!\u201d which translates to \u201cGod be with you as you go.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Monday\u2019s LOX tank delivery came courtesy of a business partner of Vaya Space: Scorpius Space Launch Company, headquartered in Torrance, California. The company was also responsible for manufacturing the LOX tank used on Intuitive Machines\u2019 Nova-C lander, named Odysseus.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOriginally, we were plan B. They had built their own original tanks ahead of time. They weren\u2019t working out quite as well as they\u2019d wanted, but they had us as a plan B,\u201d said Michael Morey, the senior structural engineer at Scorpius Space. \u201cOnce our tanks were built and were being manufactured and passed most of their tests, they found out, let\u2019s make it plan A. So, our tanks became installed into the Nova-C lander.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_65341\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-65341\" style=\"width: 876px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-65341\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/20240213_IM-1_2.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"876\" height=\"584\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/20240213_IM-1_2.jpeg 876w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/20240213_IM-1_2-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/20240213_IM-1_2-678x452.jpeg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/20240213_IM-1_2-768x512.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 876px) 100vw, 876px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-65341\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Intuitive Machines\u2019 Nova-C lander, named \u2018Odysseus,\u2019 displayed prior to encapsulation inside a pair of SpaceX Falcon 9 payload fairings. Image: SpaceX<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The tank shell sent to Vaya Space is the largest they\u2019ve manufactured to date, measuring 22.6 feet in length (6.9 meters) and 6 feet (1.8 meters) in diameter. Before moving to this stage, the two companies worked together for about a year on the design and used a smaller mockup in the early days of understanding the production.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe learned a ton in actually manufacturing this one in terms of basically the stiffness of that one, since it\u2019s such a small thing, it\u2019s very easy to handle,\u201d said Christopher Hayes, the structures lead at Vaya Space. \u201cWith this one, we had to figure out how to tie all the pieces that are going together, together as well as centering it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s also the fact that it\u2019s really big. You actually need to build a bunch of tooling and scaffolding to get up there. And so, that was definitely a big challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At one point, Vaya Space was aiming to launch its Dauntless rocket in 2025, but Fabian said currently their plans are for sometime in 2026.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have an incredibly complicated Gantt chart of tasks that have to be done between now and then,\u201d Fabian said. \u201cAnd like everybody else in this industry, we operate at the speed of money and the speed of regulations. So, we can have the best technology in the world. We\u2019ve got to make sure we\u2019re operating it safely and affordably while we do it.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_66768\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-66768\" style=\"width: 876px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-66768\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/20240717_Vaya_Space_test_stand_interior.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"876\" height=\"493\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/20240717_Vaya_Space_test_stand_interior.jpg 876w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/20240717_Vaya_Space_test_stand_interior-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/20240717_Vaya_Space_test_stand_interior-678x381.jpg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/20240717_Vaya_Space_test_stand_interior-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 876px) 100vw, 876px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-66768\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A look inside Vaya Space\u2019s engine test stand where they will test the hybrid-vortex engines that will power the Dauntless rocket. Image: Will Robinson-Smith\/Spaceflight Now<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>He said much of the remainder of 2024 will focus on testing their so-called hybrid vortex engines. They are made using 99 percent recycled plastics and are powered by a combination of solid thermoplastic material combined with liquid oxidizer.<\/p>\n<p>That technology is not only the heart of their forthcoming Dauntless rocket, but it has also caught the eye of the U.S. Department of Defense.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause our engine is as versatile as it is, there\u2019s ways to adapt it to other uses other than spaceflight,\u201d Fabian said. \u201cWe currently have a cooperative research development agreement in place with the Army DEVCOM Aviation and Missile Center, exploring the use of our engines not with cryogenic oxidizer, but with a different oxidizer in tactical field uses.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd we have a SBIR, a small business independent research, contract with the Air Force Research Laboratory on hypersonic applications for our engines. So, while we\u2019re going full steam ahead on Dauntless, our launch vehicle, the defense side is also starting to gain ground as well as some conceptual work we\u2019ve been doing on in-space propulsion and the ability to use our engines for a high-thrust, high-delta v reaction motors that can move a satellite out of the way of incoming debris or other threats.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As they continue work on the rocket itself, Fabian said they are also preparing to move into Space Launch Complex 13 (SLC-13) for launch activities. Vaya Space will share that pad with Arizona-based Phantom Space and its Daytona 1 rocket.<\/p>\n<p>Currently, SLC-13 operates as Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) for SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy boosters.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMark Lester, [Phantom Space\u2019s] COO who\u2019s in charge of launch pads on their end, and I actually knew each other before, from when he was up running Kodiak Spaceport,\u201d Fabian said. \u201cAnd so, we\u2019ve had a great working relationship between the two companies. So, the first thing we did was set up the business relationship. Nothing\u2019s real until the paperwork\u2019s in place. That\u2019s in place now.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd then immediately, we started talking with SpaceX and the local SpaceX team has been very cooperative in helping us get the information that we need and working through them on how we do the transition, so that they get their needs met as they build out the new landing pads for the Falcon 9 booster without giving up access to the current ones in the process.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_64404\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-64404\" style=\"width: 678px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-64404\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/20231109-Booster-Landing-Michael.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"678\" height=\"432\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/20231109-Booster-Landing-Michael.jpg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/20231109-Booster-Landing-Michael-300x191.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 678px) 100vw, 678px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-64404\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The first stage booster returns to Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral. Image: Michael Cain\/Spaceflight Now.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Fabian said the Space Force would have allowed them to start working on the pad around late January 2025, but he said they won\u2019t need it until around mid-summer of that year. He said for now, they will work on testing multiple components of the rocket, like the newly delivered tank, as well as their engines.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s our unique technology. That\u2019s the stuff that\u2019s not from somewhere else or done somewhere else. The guidance, navigation, control is proven, we\u2019re using commercial off-the-shelf avionics, stage sep systems, fairings,\u201d Fabian said. \u201cWe\u2019re working with Scorpius on the tanks. These engines are ours.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat said, we\u2019ve spent the last seven years refining a physics-based model of how these engines work at any scale and we\u2019ve done 120 plus tests of it, from 150 pounds of thrust, 5,000, soon to be 22,000. And so, we have a really solid understanding of how that engine works, but seeing it at that 22,000 pound thrust test level and characterizing its actual, real world performance, that\u2019s the heart of what we\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_66769\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-66769\" style=\"width: 876px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-66769\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/20240717_Vaya_Space_test_stand_wide.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"876\" height=\"493\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/20240717_Vaya_Space_test_stand_wide.jpg 876w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/20240717_Vaya_Space_test_stand_wide-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/20240717_Vaya_Space_test_stand_wide-678x381.jpg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/20240717_Vaya_Space_test_stand_wide-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 876px) 100vw, 876px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-66769\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A wide view of Vaya Space\u2019s engine test stand where they will test the hybrid-vortex engines that will power the Dauntless rocket. Image: Will Robinson-Smith\/Spaceflight Now<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A liquid oxygen tank shell was delivered from Scorpius Space Launch Company in California to Vaya Space in Florida on Monday, July 15, 2024. This will serve as a pathfinding test article as Vaya Space continues working on its forthcoming Dauntless rocket. Image: Will Robinson-Smith\/Spaceflight Now A delivery from California to Florida on Monday marked [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1343,1344,1345,1346],"class_list":["post-10066","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-dauntless","tag-scorpius-space","tag-vaya-space","tag-vortex-hybrid-engine"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10066"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10066"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10066\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10066"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}