Last week, Copenhagen Suborbitals achieved a major milestone in their quest to be a grass-roots, independent space company. Their Heat 1X rocket took off from the floating Sputnik platform in the Baltic Sea, and splashed down a few minutes later after reaching 2.8 kilometers. Just getting the rocket off the ground is a big step for the company, but the launch was not without issue. Firstly, mission planners hoped to get some 13 kilometers higher than they did. Also, as you can see in the videos, there were some issues with the Tycho Brahe capsule’s parachutes.
These are not insubstantial problems, and Copenhagen Suborbitals clearly has a lot of work ahead of them. But as they’ve shown in the past, this group of scrappy and devoted Danes can work fast, and have proved they can overcome huge obstacles.
Though this flight was unmanned, a dummy with a camera did ride aboard the Tycho Brahe. Read on after the break to see what a trip with Coppenhagen Suborbitals would be like.
(Copenhagen Suborbitals via Universe Today)
