SPARK (rocket)
{{Short description|American expendable launch system}}
{{Infobox rocket
|image = File:Super Strypi with HiakaSat at KTF (cropped).jpg
|imsize =
|caption = Super Strypi rocket on the launch pad
|name = SPARK
|function = Expendable launch system
|manufacturer = University of Hawaii
Aerojet Rocketdyne
Sandia
|country-origin = United States
|diameter = {{convert|1.5|m|abbr=on}}
|mass = {{convert|28240|kg|abbr=on}}
|stages = Three
|capacities =
{{Infobox rocket/Payload
|location = 400 km SSO
|kilos = {{convert|250|kg}}
}}
|family = Strypi
|status = In development
|sites = Barking Sands
|launches = 1
|success = 0
|fail = 1
|partial =
|other_outcome =
|first = 3 November 2015
|last =
|payloads =
}}
SPARK, or Spaceborne Payload Assist Rocket - Kauai, also known as Super Strypi,{{cite web|url=http://events.eoportal.org/get_announce.php?an_id=10003879|title=HawaiiSat-1|work=eoPortal Directory|access-date=20 January 2012|archive-date=20 January 2012|archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/64pcbtL99?url=http://events.eoportal.org/get_announce.php?an_id=10003879|url-status=dead}} is an American expendable launch system developed by the University of Hawaii, Sandia and Aerojet Rocketdyne.{{cite web|url=http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_lau/spark.htm|title=SPARK|first=Gunter|last=Krebs|work=Gunter's Space Page|access-date=20 January 2012|archive-date=15 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120115031241/http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_lau/spark.htm|url-status=dead}} Designed to place miniaturized satellites into low Earth and Sun-synchronous orbits, it is a derivative of the Strypi rocket which was developed in the 1960s in support of nuclear weapons testing. SPARK is being developed under the Low Earth Orbiting Nanosatellite Integrated Defense Autonomous System (LEONIDAS) program, funded by the Operationally Responsive Space Office of the United States Department of Defense.
Configuration
SPARK is designed as a three-stage all-solid carrier rocket, with a spin-stabilized first stage known as LEO-46 and an active attitude control system on the second and third stages. It is launched using a new rail-guided system.{{cite news |url=http://spaceflightnow.com/2015/10/29/first-launch-of-small-class-rocket-on-hold-in-hawaii/ |title=Inaugural launch of small-class rocket on hold in Hawaii |author=Stephen Clark |publisher=Spaceflight Now |date=30 October 2015 |access-date=30 October 2015 |archive-date=31 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151031120606/https://spaceflightnow.com/2015/10/29/first-launch-of-small-class-rocket-on-hold-in-hawaii/ |url-status=live }} It is expected to have a payload capacity of {{convert|250|kg}} to a Sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of approximately {{convert|400|km}}.{{cite web| url=http://hsfl.hawaii.edu/HSFL_Overview_071910.pdf| title=Overview| publisher=Hawaii Space Flight Laboratory| access-date=20 January 2012| archive-date=31 January 2012| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120131121715/http://hsfl.hawaii.edu/HSFL_Overview_071910.pdf| url-status=dead}} Launches will be conducted from the Pacific Missile Range Facility at Barking Sands.{{cite web|url=https://www.hawaii.edu/offices/op/innovation/taylor.pdf|title=Innovative Satellite Launch Program|first=Brian|last=Taylor|publisher=School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, University of Hawaii|access-date=20 January 2012|archive-date=31 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120131121232/http://www.hawaii.edu/offices/op/innovation/taylor.pdf|url-status=dead}} Aerojet Rocketdyne will produce the motors for all three stages and Sandia is the prime contractor for the rocket's systems. The United States Air Force has provided launch support.
History
=ORS-4=
{{see also|Operationally Responsive Space Office#ORS-4}}
The first launch of SPARK, named ORS-4, took place on November 3, 2015{{Cite web |url=http://spaceflightnow.com/tracking/ |title=Spaceflight now |access-date=2014-05-31 |archive-date=2012-06-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120609220021/http://spaceflightnow.com/tracking/ |url-status=live }} and was carrying HiakaSat (formerly called HawaiiSat-1) and several secondary payloads,{{cite web|url=http://hsfl.hawaii.edu/HSFL_missions.html|title=Missions|publisher=Hawaii Space Flight Laboratory, University of Hawaii|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120108230719/http://hsfl.hawaii.edu/HSFL_missions.html|archive-date=8 January 2012|access-date=20 January 2012|url-status=dead}} including the Edison Demonstration of Smallsat Networks.{{Cite web|title = Swarming Space for Science|url = http://www.nasa.gov/feature/swarming-space-for-science|website = NASA|access-date = 2015-11-01|first = Loura|last = Hall|archive-date = 2015-11-05|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151105100154/http://www.nasa.gov/feature/swarming-space-for-science/|url-status = live}} The mission was supposed to test the rocket at its full payload capacity. However, telemetry showed the rocket tumbling soon after liftoff, and the U.S. Air Force released a statement, saying that the "experimental Super Strypi launch vehicle failed in mid-flight shortly after liftoff".{{Cite web|url=http://spaceflightnow.com/2015/11/03/ors-4-mission-status-center/|title=Live coverage: Maiden flight of Super Strypi launcher fails|website=Spaceflightnow.com|access-date=2015-11-06|archive-date=2015-11-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151106013905/http://spaceflightnow.com/2015/11/03/ors-4-mission-status-center/|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|title = 'Super Strypi' Rocket Suffers Failure Shortly After Launch|url = https://grasswire.com/story/592/Super-Strypi|website = Grasswire.com|access-date = 2015-11-03|archive-date = 2015-12-22|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151222080620/https://grasswire.com/story/592/Super-Strypi|url-status = live}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Commons category|Super Strypi}}
{{Orbital launch systems}}
{{US launch systems}}
Category:Space launch vehicles of the United States
Category:University of Hawaiʻi