Argentine proposed expendable launch system
Tronador
(Spanish for
Thunderer
) is a series of Argentine
rockets
, including the Tronador I and
Tronador II
vehicles, to develop a
liquid-propellant rocket
expendable launch system
called ISCUL
[1]
(
Inyector Satelital de Cargas Utiles Ligeras
, Light-Payload Satellite Launcher).
The Tronador I is an unguided liquid-fueled rocket
[2]
used for
sub-orbital
test flights. Its development led to the larger VEx test rocket, testing technologies needed for the Tronador II, which has a guidance system and would be capable of reaching
low Earth orbit
.
[2]
Development of the satellite launch vehicle has cost more than 600 million dollars over several years.
Tronador I
[
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]
Tronador I
The Tronador I is an unguided liquid-fueled rocket
[2]
used for sub-orbital test flights.
Tronador I (T1)
[
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]
The Tronador I (T1) vehicle was flown successfully on June 6, 2007
[3]
[4]
from
Puerto Belgrano Naval Base
near
Bahia Blanca
,
[3]
[5]
in the south east of the
Buenos Aires Province
. This was the first flight of a technology demonstrator vehicle for the program.
Characteristics
[
edit
]
- Length: 3,400 mm
- Stages: 1
- Total takeoff mass: 60 kg
- Payload mass: 4 kg
- Thrust (x 10 s): 500
kgf
Tronador Ib (T2)
[
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]
The Tronador Ib (T2) vehicle was flown successfully on August 5, 2008
[3]
[4]
from Puerto Belgrano Naval Base.
[5]
This was the second technology demonstrator vehicle flown for the program.
Characteristics
[
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]
- Length: 3,400 mm
- Stages: 1
- Total takeoff mass: 60 kg
- Payload mass: 4 kg
- Apogee: 15?20 km
- Thrust (10 s): 1,500 kgf
VS-30
[
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]
This was the first cooperative test flight between
Comision Nacional de Actividades Espaciales
and
Brazilian Space Agency
; it was successfully flown in December 2007 (Operacion Angicos).
[6]
[7]
[8]
[9]
The payload built by
CONAE
, carried several experiments to validate subsystems for the program such as: IMU (Inertial Measurements Unit, that used I
FOG
's),
GPS
receptor (for navigation), all integrated into the on-board computer, and an attitude control system via cold-gas thrusters. The payload unit completed a suborbital flight carried by an
AEB
-built
VS-30
solid-propellant rocket booster, and was then recovered from the sea after landing with parachutes.
Characteristics
[
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]
- Length: 3,288 mm (Payload module)
- Stages: 1 (VS-30 booster)
- Total takeoff mass: 1,500 kg
- Payload mass: 242.1 kg
- Apogee: 120?160 km
- Specific Impulse: 266 s (VS-30 booster)
Tronador II
[
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]
Tronador II
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/Tronador_TII-250.jpg) |
Function
| Orbital launch vehicle
|
---|
Manufacturer
| CONAE
|
---|
Country of origin
| Argentina
|
---|
|
Height
| 27 m (89 ft)
|
---|
Diameter
| 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in)
|
---|
Mass
| 72,000 kg (159,000 lb) (including propellant)
|
---|
Stages
| 2
|
---|
|
|
Mass
| 600 kg (1,300 lb)
|
---|
|
---|
|
Status
| Under development
|
---|
Launch sites
| Manuel Belgrano Space Center
|
---|
First flight
| 2030
|
---|
|
|
Powered by
| 3 T30
|
---|
Maximum thrust
| 3 × 30,000 kg
|
---|
Propellant
| LOX
/
RP-1
|
---|
|
Powered by
| 1 other or T4R
|
---|
Maximum thrust
| 1400 to 4000 kg
|
---|
Propellant
| Monomethylhydrazine
(MMH) /
N
2
O
4
|
---|
|
|
As of 2020, Tronador II's maiden orbital launch is expected to fly in "the next 4 years", according to the National Commission for Space Activities.
[10]
Early proposals
[
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]
The initial proposal was for a 3-stage rocket. In early 2015, an evolved configuration
[11]
was presented at the 52nd Committee on Peaceful Uses of Ultra-Terrestrial Space meeting
[12]
and at the
Punta Indio
(
35°31′25″S
57°11′05″W
/
35.523496°S 57.1846139°W
/
-35.523496; -57.1846139
(
Centro Espacial Punta Indio - Sector L
)
) test launch pad:
- First Stage: 90 t total thrust (3 x 30 t engines)
- Second Stage: 30 t thrust
- Third stage: 4 t thrust
Characteristics
[
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]
As of June 2016, the proposed Tronador II configuration was:
[13]
- Length: 27 m
- Stages: 2
- Diameter: 2.5 m
- Total weight: 72,000 kg
- Payload mass: 600 kg
[14]
- Apogee: 600 km
- Lower Stage: 90 t total thrust (3x30 t engines) at sea level. Fuel:
RP-1
/
LOX
- Upper stage: 1.4 t to 4 t thrust (single pressurized engine) at sea level (2 t to 5.5 t in vacuum). Fuel:
Monomethylhydrazine
(MMH) /
N
2
O
4
TII-250
[
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]
Infographic of the Tronador II-250 rocket
In late 2022 Tronador II was named
TII-250
, with the launch site being indicated as
Centro Espacial Manuel Belgrano (CEMB)
, in
Bahia Blanca
.
[15]
[16]
Tronador II prototypes
[
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]
T4000
[
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]
The T4000 (Tronador T4000 pathfinder rocket) test rocket is related to the project, as it is the basis of the 3rd stage of the Tronador II.
[3]
Specifically, it was intended to house the
attitude control
system (“Thrust Vector Control” - TVS).
[17]
The first launch attempt in 2011 failed.
[18]
- Characteristics
- Diameter: 4.38 m
[19]
- Thrust: 4,000 kg (40 kN)
- Burn time: 10 seconds
[20]
The recent strategy was to fly separately several suborbital experimental subsystems, called "VEx", before they are incorporated in the prototype of the Tronador II rocket.
[2]
[17]
[20]
[21]
[22]
[23]
After a few launches, it was decided in 2017 to stop the experimental Vex series as enough data was obtained to go ahead with a prototype rocket.
[24]
However, in November 2021, it was announced that the program were reactivated again.
VEx-1A
[
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]
VEx-1A at its launch pad, Punta Indio Spaceport
In March 2014, a suborbital prototype named VEx-1A failed during launch from
Pipinas
, Punta Indio Partido.
[2]
[23]
[25]
[26]
It had only one stage, weigh 2.8 tonnes, thrust of 4 ton, with an expectation of 60 seconds mission duration and expected apogee of 2 km. VEx-1A first launch attempt was postponed in December 2013 due to ground support equipment fail. The second attempt failed on February 26, 2014.
[27]
[28]
It was discovered that the failure was caused by interferences between the launch pad and the rocket, which prevented the vehicle from elevating more than 2m off the ground. The engine control mechanism shut off the fuel valve, preventing an explosion, and the rocket fell down next to the pad.
VEx-1B
[
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]
VEx-1b being rolled to its launch pad at the Punta Indio Space Center.
The first flight of this suborbital vehicle was on 15 August 2014 from Pipinas, Punta Indio Partido.
[14]
It successfully tested propulsion, control, and navigation subsystems. The mission concluded with 2,200 m apogee altitude and 27 seconds flight time. It landed in the sea assisted by the recovery parachutes. The vehicle was recovered and examined to determine whether further VEx-1 test rockets are required or if a VEx-2 flight should proceed.
VEx-5A
[
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]
The prototype of the Tronador II rocket, VEX-5A in its launch complex.
VEx-5A was a two-stage suborbital rocket that was destroyed upon launch. The T-10 first stage is capable of producing 11t of thrust, while the T-4 second stage is capable of 4t of thrust. The rocket was 18 meters long and 1.5 meters diameter, with a total launch weight (including fuel) of 8500 kg.
[29]
[11]
The rocket would have separated from the first stage (the propellants are liquid oxygen / RP-1) at 15 km altitude and the second stage would have continued, reaching up to 30 km altitude using
hydrazine
/
nitric acid
.
[30]
The vehicle would have tested several technologies, new fuels, and for the first time, the interstage separation (mechanical and automatic aspects), and the ignition of the second stage. The rocket was completed in mid 2015 and scheduled to launch in October 2015, but postponed to November 2016, before postponed again.
[31]
The test flight finally occurred on 21 April 2017, 18:00 local time from Pipinas, Punta Indio Partido. The rocket climbed up from its pad, but eight seconds later the first stage rocket engine shut down due to abrupt flow in its fuel lines. Several seconds later, the rocket fell and impacted the launch pad, causing a fiery explosion. The ill-fated launch was announced officially by CONAE several hours after the launch and footage from several angles were made available.
[32]
[33]
[34]
[35]
VEx-5B
[
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]
Test flight - single stage 30t thrust engine rocket - it was projected for a 2018 launch from Pipinas, Punta Indio Partido. The mission was cancelled in 2017,
[24]
before were announced in November 2021 that the mission were reactivated again.
VEx-5C
[
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]
Test flight - two stage test rocket. First stage 30t thrust engine, second stage VEx-1 engine - it was projected for a 2019 launch from Puerto Belgrano Naval Base.
[36]
[37]
[38]
[39]
The mission was cancelled in 2017,
[24]
before were announced in November 2021 that the mission were reactivated again.
VEx-6
[
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]
Test flight of the rocket. Investment of approximately $45 million in the Tronador SLV program was announced in 2022, including associated experimental rockets VEx-5 and VEx-6.
[40]
TII-70 and TII-150
[
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]
Tronador II family with TII-70 and TII-150 prototypes
In late 2022, two Tronador II prototypes, with the goal of engine testing were announced:
[15]
- TII-70
(150 km apogee, 11 m length, 2.2 ton weight, launched from Punta Indio Space Center - CEPI)
- TII-150
(400 km apogee, 20 m length, 23 ton weight, launched from Centro Espacial Manuel Belgrano - CEMB)
Tronador III
[
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]
The proposed Tronador III would have the same diameter as Tronador II, but would have a length of 34 metres (112 ft). The fueled rocket would weight 90 metric tons, and capable of delivering satellites with up to 750 kg to a 600 km orbit, or up to a ton if upper stages are used.
[41]
[42]
[43]
[44]
Characteristics
[
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]
Proposed Tronador III configuration:
[45]
[46]
- Length: 35 m
- Stages: 2
- Diameter: 2.5 m
- Empty mass: 6,600 kg
- Total weight: 90,000 kg
- Payload mass: 1000 kg
- Apogee: 600 km
- Lower Stage: 120t total thrust (4 × 30t engines) at sea level. Fuel: RP-1/LOX
- Upper stage: 3t thrust (single engine). Fuel: MMH/NTO
VLE (
Vehiculo Lanzador Espacial)
[
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]
Tronador III will be preceded by the VLE (
Vehiculo Lanzador Espacial
for Space Launch Vehicle) capable of placing a 80 kg payload on a 300 km orbit.
[46]
[47]
[43]
[44]
This would be a two stage rocket, with the first stage using 5 or more
Karut
engines with 2.5 t of thrust and burning RP-1/LOX.
[46]
[47]
See also
[
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]
References
[
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]
- ^
"La Facultad de Ingenieria participara en el desarrollo del"
(PDF)
.
Proyectarse
.
15
(71): 20?22. December 2008. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 2014-08-21
. Retrieved
2014-08-20
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
"Comision Nacional de Actividades Espaciales - Tronador II"
.
Conae.gov.ar
. Archived from
the original
on 2015-09-05
. Retrieved
2015-12-20
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
"Comision Nacional de Actividades Espaciales - Tronador"
.
Conae.gov.ar
. Archived from
the original
on 2015-09-23
. Retrieved
2015-12-20
.
- ^
a
b
"Tronador"
.
Argentina.gob.ar
(in Spanish). 2018-04-04
. Retrieved
2023-12-08
.
- ^
a
b
"free forum : grandprix"
.
Grandprix.forochile.org
. Retrieved
2015-12-20
.
[
permanent dead link
]
- ^
"Argentina y Brasil lanzan cohete con experimentos GPS"
.
MundoGEO
. 21 December 2007.
- ^
"CELPA 1 Chamical on Facebook"
.
Facebook
. Archived from
the original
on 2022-04-30.
[
user-generated source
]
[
self-published
]
- ^
Aicke.
"Desarrollo Argentino de instrumental aeroespacial"
(PDF)
.
AviacionArgentina.net
.
- ^
De Dicco, Ricardo (2008).
"Acceso al Espacio"
.
1library.co
.
- ^
"Argentina Aspires to Have its Own Pitcher in Four Years"
.
infoespecial.com
. Retrieved
2021-04-28
.
- ^
a
b
Brugge, Norbert.
"Tronador LSA"
.
Space Launch Vehicles
. Retrieved
2017-10-04
.
- ^
Alvarez, Pablo (8 February 2015).
"¿Nuevo diseno para el Tronador II?"
.
Argentina en el Espacio
. Retrieved
2015-12-20
.
- ^
"Comision Nacional de Actividades Espaciales - Tronador II"
. Archived from
the original
on 2015-09-05
. Retrieved
2014-08-12
.
- ^
a
b
"Comision Nacional de Actividades Espaciales - 2014"
.
Conae.gov.ar
. Archived from
the original
on 2015-09-07
. Retrieved
2015-12-20
.
- ^
a
b
"Argentina desarrolla el primer prototipo de lanzador de satelites"
.
Argentina.gob.ar
(in Spanish). 2022-10-03
. Retrieved
2023-12-08
.
- ^
"Facilidades auxiliares"
.
Argentina.gob.ar
(in Spanish). 2018-04-04
. Retrieved
2023-12-08
.
- ^
a
b
"Escalera al cielo, peldano a peldano (Serie Tronador II)"
.
Portinos.com
. 2015-03-18
. Retrieved
2015-12-20
.
- ^
Falcao, Duda (December 11, 2011).
"Informacao Extraoficial Confirma Falha do Foguete T-4000"
.
BRAZILIAN SPACE
. Retrieved
2015-12-20
.
- ^
Brugge, Norbert.
"T-4000, Gallery"
.
Space Launch Vehicles
. Retrieved
2015-12-20
.
- ^
a
b
"Argentina's SLV development"
.
Forum.nasaspaceflight.com
. Retrieved
2015-12-20
.
- ^
"Proyecto de Inversion Publica. Secretaria de Politica Economica"
.
Mecon.gov.ar
. 2015-11-30
. Retrieved
2015-12-20
.
- ^
"Argentina's SLV development"
.
Forum.nasaspaceflight.com
. Retrieved
2015-12-20
.
- ^
a
b
Rey, Patricia (2013-10-14).
"Argentina To Put First Satellite In Space Using Own Launch Technology By 2015"
.
Ibtimes.com
. Retrieved
2015-12-20
.
- ^
a
b
c
Bruno Massare.
"Varotto: "A fines del ano que viene deberiamos tener un lanzador satelital"
"
(in Spanish). TSS
. Retrieved
2018-01-31
.
Decidimos interrumpir el desarrollo de los vehiculos experimentales (la serie VEX) porque consideramos que con lo ya hecho no ibamos a aportar mucho mas con otro experimental que lo que aportaria el modelo tecnologico.
- ^
"Cohete Tronador II: mas que un monumento de Tecnopolis"
.
Colonbuenosaires.com.ar
. Retrieved
2015-12-20
.
- ^
"Argentina lanzara un cohete de diseno nacional que pondra en orbita satelites de observacion"
.
Infobae.com
. Retrieved
2015-12-20
.
- ^
"El cohete despego y exploto"
. Punta Indio Web. 2014-02-26
. Retrieved
2015-12-20
.
- ^
"Un despegue fallido - 07.03.2014 - LA NACION"
.
La Nacion
. 7 March 2014
. Retrieved
2015-12-20
.
- ^
Farre, Cecilia (March 14, 2016).
"Planean mas pruebas para el lanzador de satelites argentino"
.
Perfil
. Archived from
the original
on 2016-06-02.
- ^
Clarin.com (2016-11-22).
"Vex 5-A: lanzan el tercer cohete experimental argentino"
.
Clarin
(in Spanish)
. Retrieved
2023-10-02
.
- ^
"Pagina/12 :: Economia :: Una foto junto al cohete heredado"
.
www.pagina12.com.ar
. Retrieved
2016-09-30
.
- ^
Clarin.com (2017-04-22).
"Video: un cohete lanzado en Punta Indio tuvo problemas y se estrello"
.
Clarin
(in Spanish)
. Retrieved
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.
- ^
Digital, Redaccion (2017-04-29).
"Un vehiculo experimental argentino se estrella nada mas despegar"
.
Ultima Hora
(in Spanish)
. Retrieved
2023-10-02
.
- ^
"Exclusivo: el Gobierno oculto la explosion de un cohete lanzado por CONAE"
.
www.politicargentina.com
. Retrieved
2023-10-02
.
- ^
"Видео взрыва ракеты VEX-5 при запуске в Аргентине появилось в Сети"
.
РЕН ТВ
(in Russian). 2017-04-29
. Retrieved
2023-10-02
.
- ^
"El INVAP de Bariloche ya prepara el Arsat 2 y 3 para 2015 y 2017"
.
Energypress.com.ar
. Retrieved
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.
- ^
"VEX1 - Machtres Aeronautica y Espacio"
.
Machtres.com
. 2014-09-25
. Retrieved
2015-12-20
.
- ^
Krebs, Gunter D.
"VEx-5"
.
Gunter's Space Page
.
- ^
"Argentina's SLV development"
.
Forum.nasaspaceflight.com
. Retrieved
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.
- ^
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.
www.cia.gov
. Retrieved
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.
- ^
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"Plan Espacial Nacional - 27 de Agosto de 2015 - Seminario DAR"
(PDF)
. Archived from
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(PDF)
on 2016-03-04
. Retrieved
2018-02-01
.
- ^
Abel (2020-09-17).
"
"Es fundamental que se materialice el Proyecto Tronador III"
"
.
AgendAR
(in Spanish)
. Retrieved
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.
- ^
a
b
Pugliese, Pablo (2020-10-12).
"El Plan de Acceso al Espacio y la importancia de que Argentina cuente con un lanzador"
.
Escenario Mundial
(in Spanish)
. Retrieved
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.
- ^
a
b
"Reactivacion espacial ? Agencia TSS"
(in European Spanish)
. Retrieved
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.
- ^
Garcia, Javier (2 September 2015).
"CONAE proyecta el Tronador III"
.
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.
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a
b
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.
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. Retrieved
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.
- ^
a
b
"VLE, nuevo enfoque de CONAE"
.
Latam Satelital
(in Spanish). 2020-07-19
. Retrieved
2023-12-08
.
External links
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Organisations
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Satellites
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Launch Fleet
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Projects
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Launch sites
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Current
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Future
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Current
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In development
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- This Template lists historical, current, and future space rockets that at least once attempted (but not necessarily succeeded in) an orbital launch or that are planned to attempt such a launch in the future
- Symbol
†
indicates past or current rockets that attempted orbital launches but never succeeded (never did or has yet to perform a successful orbital launch)
|