RX (rocket family)
The RX rocket family (Roket Eksperimental) is a series of solid-fuel rockets developed by the Indonesian National Institute of Aeronautics and Space. They are simply named by their diameter in millimeters; for example, the RX-250 has a diameter of 250 mm.[1]
Individual boosters
This family is composed of:[2]
| Version | RX-75 | RX-100 | RX-150 | RX-250 | RX-320 | RX-420 | RX-450 | RX-550 | RX-750 | RX-980 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diameter | 75 mm | 110 mm | 150 mm | 250 mm | 320 mm | 420 mm | 450 mm | 550 mm | 750 mm | 980 mm |
| Length | 1.90 m | 5.30 m | 4.74 m | 6.11 m | ||||||
| Thrust[3] | 53 kN | 52 kN | 94 kN | 126 kN | 255 kN | |||||
| Burn time[3] | 2.5 s | 6.0 s | 9.0 s | 12.3 s | 19.5 s | 14 s | ||||
| Specific impulse[3] | 220 s | 220 s | 220 s | 230 s | 240 s | |||||
| Propellant | Hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) | |||||||||
| Propellant mass[3] | 371 kg | 425 kg | 765 kg | 1,519 kg | ||||||
| Total mass | 30 kg | 300 kg | 532 kg | |||||||
| Payload | 30–60 kg | |||||||||
| Flights | 8 | 3 | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Years active[4] | 1987–2007 | 2008–2014 | 2009 | 2015 | ||||||
| Apogee reached[4] | 7 km | 70–100 km | 40–42 km | 43 km | 44 km | |||||
| Range reached | 11 km | 129 km | ||||||||
| Notes | Characteristics in italics are design values, they have not been measured yet. | |||||||||
RX-250 was launched eight times from 1987 to 2007.[4] RX-320 was launched twice in 2008[4] and once again in 2014.[5] RX-420 flew just once in 2009; it is superseded by RX-450 which was launched on 13 May 2015[6] As of May 2016, the next booster version RX-550 is under construction; the larger ones are only on the drawing board.
Multi-stage rockets
Once the solid boosters are fully qualified, LAPAN plans to assemble several of them into multi-stage rockets called Roket Pengorbit Satelit or RPS. Four staging configurations have been retained so far:[7]
- RPS-01 Variant 1 (ex-RPS-420)
- First stage: 3 x RX-420
- Second stage: 1 x RX-420
- Third stage: 1 x RX-420 (shorter)
- Fourth stage: 1 x RX-320
- Total height: 10.00 m
- RPS-01 Variant 2b
- First stage: 1 x RX-550 + 2 x RX-420
- Second stage: 1 x RX-550
- Third stage: 1 x RX-320
- Total height: 15.75 m
- RPS-01 Variant 3a
- First stage: 1 x RX-450
- Second stage: 1 x RX-450
- Total height: 10.75 m
- RPS-01 Variant 3b
- First stage: 1 x RX-450 + 2 x RX-320
- Second stage: 1 x RX-450
- Third stage: 1 x RX-320
- Total height: 11.75 m
Earlier plans for the Pengorbitan-1 and -2 orbital launch vehicles (a.k.a. RPS-420) were based on the RX-420 engine which has been superseded by the RX-450. As of May 2016, integration work is proceeding on variants 3a and 3b, whose engines have all been successfully flight-qualified.
References
- ↑ "LAPAN and Indonesian Rocket Program | Indomil's Blog". Indomil.wordpress.com. 2009-05-24. Retrieved 2016-02-13.
- ↑ "RPS-01". B14643.de. Retrieved 2016-02-13.
- 1 2 3 4 "RX solid rocket motors". B14643.de. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
- 1 2 3 4 "LAPAN Chronology". Astronautix.com. Retrieved 2016-02-13.
- ↑ "Menuju Roket Pengorbit Satelit, RX-320 Sukses Mengudara dan RX-450 Terukur Karakteristiknya" [Towards the Satellite Orbiter Rocket, successful flight of RX-320 and performance measurements of RX-450] (Press release) (in Indonesian). LAPAN. 25 August 2014. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
- ↑ "Tahapan Menuju Roket Pengorbit Satelit, Lapan Berhasil Luncurkan RX-450" [A step towards the Satellite Orbiter Rocket, LAPAN successfully launches RX-450] (Press release) (in Indonesian). LAPAN. 14 May 2015. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
- ↑ "RPS-01 Staging". B14643.de. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
