Posted on 12/27/2015 6:28:52 PM PST by Utilizer
An Australian project to create a reusable vehicle to launch small satellites is a step closer after flying a small-scale test model in Brisbane.
The test vehicle was built and flown by Australian Droid and Robot, a drone start-up by Dr Joe Cronin - best known for managing the load haul dump (LHD) automation project at the former Rio Tinto-owned Northparkes mine in NSW - and rocket scientist Dawid Preller.
The entire Austral Launch Vehicle (ALV) project is being run by Heliaq Engineering Services and involves multiple partners including Australian Droid and Robot and the University of Queensland.
The project aims to improve the economics of launching small satellites by returning and then reusing the first stage rocket engines, which account for "at least 50 percent of the cost" of a launch vehicle, Heliaq said in a statement.
Rather than drop away and fall into the ocean once their job is done, the first stage rockets on the ALV will ultimately "deploy wings and a propeller motor, so [they] can safely return to base", UQ said.
(Excerpt) Read more at itnews.com.au ...
Maybe they should be researching fire control.....
Spend some money on air tankers capable of putting out forest fires.
I believe this is a private venture, not a governmental agency.
You hit that right on the head, they just lost 116 homes to a fire this weekend. And then they had a terrible fire a couple weeks ago north of Adelaide.
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