This is a decisive step for the Latitude teams and their future Zéphyr orbital rocket. The Navier engine, which will power the launcher, has successfully completed its first multi-firing campaign since the shetland islands, in the north of Scotland. The year 2023 will be decisive for small business.
And there was no question of being left behind by the Germans.
It will be enough aaaaa of a spark
Ah, the island of Unst. The northernmost of the Shetland Islands, with its peat meadows, its sheep, its daily showers… and its spaceport. SaxaVord is talked about a lot, with its policy of openness and its reception of many customers, such as the Germans from RFA or the French from Latitude. Two of the most dynamic European Newspace start-ups.
Last summer, after a successful fundraising of 10 million euros and the installation in its new premises in Reims, Latitude received its first examples of the Navier rocket engine, developed in-house. Problem, despite the agreement with the French site of Vernon, managed by ArianeGroup and CNES, access to infrastructure takes too long. The Scots, for their part, did not hesitate to lend the Latitude team a “square of concrete”. It then remained to design and set up a real mobile rocket engine test bed (there is none at Casto’), then to take it away and prepare it on the island of Unst for attempts.
Light the fire
The firing campaign took place in December, and the team was able to prepare the test bench despite difficult conditions at SaxaVord: the weather of course, but also power cuts and access difficulties. Nevertheless, after a first abortive test and 3 weeks of work (including for part of the team, during the holidays), Navier roared in January, several times and for a significant duration of more than 30 seconds.
For Stanislas Maximin, CEO and founder of Latitude, this is a key step: ” These tests mark, with tangible proof, our real entry into the game of new global launchers. Admiring and proud of his team, he is also preparing for the future.
Indeed, 2023 will be a busy year, and Latitude engineers and technicians will return to Scotland for a new engine test campaign scheduled for April. It should be noted that the Navier engine is of paramount importance for the start-up, which will use 9 of them on the first stage and one on the second stage of its future Zéphyr launcher. To ensure an inaugural take-off scheduled for 2024, impeccable results will be needed by then.
The “microlauncher” made in France (between 70 and 100 kg of capacity in heliosynchronous SSO orbit), with good results for its tests, now has good arguments to start chasing contracts. And the needs exist! Just the day before yesterday, Isar Aerospace (Germany) signed an agreement with the Americans of Spaceflight…
Source: Press release
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