China’s Deep Blue Aerospace conducted its first high-altitude test flight of a Nebula-1 launch vehicle prototype this week, ending in a dramatic crash landing that the company caught on video using drones. While this is a setback for the company, it is still important to note how upfront they have been and how much they want to learn from the experience.
Dramatic Failure of the Nebula-1 Rocket (Test Flight video)
Chinese space start-up company Deep Blue Aerospace carried out the test flight of its Nebula-1 rocket on Sunday. The plan was to fly the vehicle up to an altitude of about 5 kilometers then attempt a vertical landing at the Ejin Banner Spaceport in Inner Mongolia
The Nebula-1 took off on its test flight, soaring skyward for roughly 2.5 minutes. But right before the rocket was expected to touch down, something went wrong, and it blew up into a flames. Nearby drones also captured this dramatic crash landing and then failed to land.
Foster a culture of transparency and continuous learning.
Deep Blue Aerospace : Uphold a higher degree of transparency – The Leading Source for Aerospace & Defence News The company issued a brief statement within hours of the crash outlining what was supposed to happen when, what happened during and after launch, and a cursory look that seems to confirm if not diagnose the anomaly.
Along with the statement, Deep Blue Aerospace also released drone footage of the landing attempt and its aftermath. So as refreshing goes, the ability to talk about the good and bad fit well in a world often swathed in secrecy when it comes to developing such space technology.
Yet given that the company said it had achieved 10 of its 11 major goals for the test flight, it underscored progress. Deep Blue Aerospace intends to try another high-altitude test flight in November, suggesting the company is eager to iterate off of this setback and move forward with their technology.
Conclusion
A dramatic crash landing of Deep Blue Aerospace’s Nebula-1 rocket has focused the attention of the space community, and general public. The failure is certainly a disappointment, but the company has handled it with grace and transparency, vowing to take those lessons for what they are. In the meantime, as Chinese space startups test their technology to the limit, it’s like a question mark as to how China developers will evolve over time and measure against ones that compete in the global space race such as SpaceX.
