Hello All,

Peru's space agency, CONIDA, has successfully launched that nation's first completely indigenously-developed sounding rocket, the Paulet 1-B. Below are links to an article, a technical paper, and a video on the vehicle, and much more material on it can be found by Googling www.google.com terms such as "cohete Paulet 1-B" (cohete being the Spanish word for rocket). Here are the links:

http://www.space-travel.com/reports...rocket_999.html

http://www.spaceops2012.org/proceed...3-Paper-003.pdf

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tGWUZotmwM

I hope this material will be useful.

__________________
Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see:
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All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com.
NAR #54895 SR

What a joke. A 206mm sounding rocket in 2013, but they'll be in "orbit" by 2020? Hardly. Once again, the media (Chinese media, in this case. Wonder why Xinhua is writing about Peru.....) utterly fails to understand the difference between lofting a payload to an altitude of 300km versus orbiting a payload. The difference is significant!!

Interesting launcher. Clearly an SA-3 "Goa" (S-125) SAM launcher (twin rail), with the sounding rocket rail on the right-hand SA-3 rail.

If the Chinese provide CONIDA with technological assistance, they could launch their first satellite by 2020. But given how simple Japan's Lambda-4S and Mu-4S satellite launch vehicles were (three un-guided, spinning solid propellant lower stages and a timer-equipped, thruster-pointed, spun/de-spun/re-spun fourth stage), Peru might do the same, -and- by 2020.Indeed--and if Peru is planning to do something like what Indonesia is doing regarding their indigenous microsatellite launch vehicle (which is generally similar to the Japanese Lambda-4S), such an SLV could be fired from that same launcher (Indonesia's microsat SLV will also be rail-launched, as were Japan's Lambda-4S and all of their Mu series SLVs).

__________________
Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see:
http://www.lulu.com/content/paperba...an-form/8075185
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6122050
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6126511
All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com.
NAR #54895 SR

Who said China is helping Peru? Just because Xinhua picked up the story doesn't mean China is providing assistance.

Yes, Japan built a simple rocket to get to orbit. It was also over 750mm in diameter. Peru's rocket is 206mm. These things don't "scale up" linearly, so they're a long way from having the propulsive power to reach orbit. Indonesia knows this too, which is why their current project is a 700+mm rocket.

No way in hell an all-solid SLV capable of reaching orbit could come off that tiny rail. Look at the Lambda launcher, if you like the Japan analogy.

Bottom line is this is just lousy reporting by a journalistic sector which failed math and science (which is why they became journalists). The same morons who tried to equate SpaceShipOne to the Space Shuttle. After all, they both fly to "space," right?

Given Peru's slow progress (and tiny budget) to date, they're probably aiming for a sounding rocket capable of reaching 300km. THAT is within their reach and could probably fly from that rail to boot. I truly wish them luck.

I think China is providing general technical assistance to Peru (and to other countries); they do this to foster friendly relations, as we also do with some countries.The Paulet 1-B could become (in somewhat modified form) the final stage of an SLV; the Lambda-4S's upper stages were also considerably smaller than its 750+ mm diameter first and second stages.Japan's smaller SS-520 sounding rocket (its first stage is 520 mm in diameter), whose rail launcher is also smaller, has been considered for conversion into a microsatellite launch vehicle by adding a small, solid propellant third stage, so SLVs need not be huge or require enormous rail launchers.I agree--but its potential as a possible microsat SLV upper stage should not be ignored.I'm certain that that (or achieving comparable performance) will be their next step. If they have serious space achievement desires that go beyond that, the Paulet 1-B could help them develop the necessary technologies for a small satellite launch vehicle.

__________________
Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see:
http://www.lulu.com/content/paperba...an-form/8075185
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6122050
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6126511
All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com.
NAR #54895 SR

I'm well aware of what China does to "foster relations." Got any proof to back up what you think?

Sure - it COULD be used as an upper stage. And Japan's M5 COULD be used as the basis of an ICBM. But there's no proof saying they're doing that.

Don't use pictures, use numbers. It is capacity, not size, that matters. The single-stage S-520 weighs 2165kg. So any launcher based on a three-stage variant of the SS-520 would be heavier still. An S-125 SAM (which defines the weight limit of the Paulet launcher) weighs only 953kg. So the Peruvian launcher is already more than a factor of 2 too small to launch an S-520 - much less a three-stage SS-520 analog. Further, Japanese technology far exceeds what Peru could do near term without serious help - so their SLV would probably need a launcher 3-4 time more robust than what they currently have. The good news for Peru is the launcher is relatively easy to build. The motors are not.

Nobody is "ignoring" the potential. I'm avoiding becoming starry-eyed every time a sounding rocket goes into "space." Most third-world sounding rockets are just that - sounding rockets. There are so many "PowerPoint" SLVs out there - many here in the USA, plus concepts from Argentina, Turkey, South Africa, Indonesia, etc. Some may actually be built. (If I had to bet, I'd bet on Indonesia right now). Most will not.

CONIDA's (Peru's space agency's) own stated intention. If the Paulet 1-B design instead shows up later in the guise of an artillery rocket (similar to how Pakistan used the French Dauphin and Eridan sounding rocket designs, which they acquired from France in order to produce those rockets under license ostensibly for peaceful purposes), I will reject CONIDA's statement--but not otherwise.Actually, the Mu-5 and the Epsilon launch vehicle (the M-5's replacement) are suspected to have been developed partly to maintain Japan's solid propellant launch vehicle technological base, in order to deter North Korea (Japan's unspoken message being "We can also produce instant-reaction solid propellant ballistic missiles, if you give us a reason to do so").The third stage that has been suggested for the SS-520-based microsatellite launch vehicle was a small spherical rocket motor, and both it and its microsatellite payload would fit inside the SS-520's standard 3:1 ogive nose cone, so the vehicle couldn't weigh much more than the "stock" SS-520. Also, pictures (which illustrate vehicle configurations) are very important, because vehicle configurations directly influence the numbers. If a rail-launched SLV is stacked entirely in tandem (with each stage being mounted above the previous one), it will be very long and will require a very long rail launcher, whose requirements for sufficient stiffness (rigidity) will make it heavier. But if the SLV is stacked even partially in parallel, its rail launcher can be shorter and lighter. The rail-launched Indonesian microsatellite launch vehicle has its two first stage motors mounted in parallel with its second stage motor, in the manner of the Titan IIIC.I'm not starry-eyed about the Paulet 1-B or CONIDA's announced space plans; I was just happy to see them testing a new sounding rocket rather than a new rocket weapon.

__________________
Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see:
http://www.lulu.com/content/paperba...an-form/8075185
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6122050
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6126511
All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com.
NAR #54895 SR

Utterly illogical! I asked you to prove China is helping - and your "proof" is CONIDA's stated intent to build an SLV? Huh?