ARCA’s Asteroid-Mining Mission Profile — The Launch — AMi, Part IX

Today I’ll start a sub-series of four articles in which I’ll describe the typical asteroid mining mission profile, starting today with the launch sequence description, from the engines start up to orbit.

A typical launch procedure starts when the Propulsion Modules and the AMi Cargo are shipped from ARCA’s test facility to a naval base or commercial port.

Once there, lorries are unloaded and the Propulsion Modules and the AMi Cargo are placed on the pier. Two cranes help to lower the AMi Cargo and the Propulsion Modules on the sea surface, in vertical position, staking them together, side by side. The FCCC is loaded on board of the support ship. The rocket’s fuelling starts three days before launch. The team boards the ship 24 hours before launch. After the fuelling is completed, two tugs tow the EcoRocket Heavy from the pier to a launch point located 30 nautical miles out at sea. After reaching that point, the tugs move to a distance of 10 nautical miles, awaiting the post-launch recovery procedure.

The launch will be initiated by opening the tank pressurisation valves, which will break the burst disks, thereby starting the first stage’s main engines.

The rocket starts ascending, with the RCS system maintaining the vertical trajectory.

The EcoRocket Heavy first stage engines are carrying the second and third stages, together with the AMi spacecraft to an altitude of 7,000 m.

The first stage engine runs for 32 s, and the vehicle reaches 7,000 m and a speed of 1,750 km/h.

At 7,000 m the second stage detaches itself and continues to ascend for 50 s to an altitude of 43,000 m and a speed of 3,800 km/h.

The EcoRocket Heavy second stage continues the ascend to Low Earth Orbit.

The third stage separates from the second one at 60 km, and it performs a pitch and yaw manoeuvre alignment for orbit injection, using the onboard RCSs.

The third stage then starts its engines, which run for a total of 185 s, increasing the vehicle’s speed to 28,500 km/h and an altitude of 160 km.

The EcoRocket Heavy third stage and the AMi Cargo spacecraft in Low Earth Orbit.

The third stage engines are restartable, as they use self-igniting propellants.

In the next article we will talk about the rocket recovery and the orbital manoeuvres that will put the AMi Spacecraft on the asteroid intercept trajectory.

The AMi development program is mainly financed through ARCA’s AMiE Crypto.