Aphelion Orbitals rockets
 

Hello All,

A new space company, Aphelion Orbitals (see: http://aphelionorbitals.com/our-company/ ), is developing a sounding rocket called Trailblazer and a nanosatellite launch vehicle called Feynman, which are designed with future reusability in mind. Both vehicles utilize new manufacturing technologies and uncommon design concepts, such as LOX/methane propellant and the aerospike engine, and both would make interesting scale model rockets (in the Concept Scale category). Links to more information on both vehicles are included below:

Trailblazer:
http://www.google.com/search?q=Aphe...1k1.C3fnTw7zFhI

Feynman:
http://www.google.com/search?q=Aphe...1.O 6zNfB-k5KE

I hope this material will be helpful.

Cool! And the Trailblazer has fins! Thank you Aphelion Orbitals! :)

That's their rocket that most interests me, for that reason and also because of its unusual first stage/second stage length *and* diameter ratios.

They need to change its name. Trailblazer has already been used on a 6 stage rocket that studied reentry. It had 3 stages to lift (Honest John, Nike, Lance) and 3 stages (T-40, T-55, Cygnus 5 motors)pointing back down to accelerate small spheres of various materials into the atmosphere. The more powerful Trailblazer 2 had two lifting stages (Castor and Lance) along with two strap-on Recruits, and 2 downward firing stages (Altair and Cygnus).

It's a modern day SPEV! :D

A few names have been reused over the years. Also, there was even at least one seven-stage Trailblazer 1 round. Its seventh stage wasn't a rocket motor, but a tube (essentially, a smooth-bore gun) filled with tetryl explosive, with a metal disc "artificial meteor" on top of the tetryl charge. (Professor Fritz Zwicky's Aerobee-lofted artificial meteor experiment of October 16, 1957 [an earlier attempt using a V-2, on December 18, 1946, failed] resulted in the first man-made objects ever to escape from Earth. His three "guns," mounted 120 degrees apart, each contained a shaped charge and a metal liner, which functioned as an explosive-formed projectile. One of these artificial meteors attained a speed of 33,000 mph--far in excess of escape velocity.)

If you happen to have any parts for Apogee Components' original (pre-Tim Van Milligan, when founder Ed LaCroix had the company; I believe Eclipse Components got those later) competition model rocket kits--in particular, the "ogive frustum" transition adapter--you could definitely use an Aphelion Orbitals Trailblazer model for that purpose.

The transition isn't quite right but the LOC NORAD would make a pretty close approximation in HPR . Is an ogive style transition available from BMS or Semroc/e-rockets? Otherwise you could fab one from a nosecone .

I just meant that the short and fat first stage reminded me of the Estes SPEV.

I wasn't familiar with that kit, but I just looked it up, and I see what you mean! Some NASA Orion sounding rocket rounds also have those proportions (which Aphelion Orbitals' Trailblazer also has), where the motor section is much shorter than the narrower payload (or second stage, in the Trailblazer's case).