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A Chat with Kristian von Bengtson, co-founder of Copenhagen Suborbitals (Video)

Posted by timothy on from the getting-into-space-the-simple-way dept.

Copenhagen Suborbitals says their mission is "very simple. We are working towards launching a human being into space." That doesn't sound so simple, really, but they're approaching this gargantuan task with an intentionally simple approach: a small team, relatively unhampered by bureaucratic hassles, who are taking advantage of existing, off-the-shelf high-tech solutions when they make sense, and low-tech solutions when possible; if the parable of the Soviet space pencil hadn't worked its way into the mythology of space technology, it could have been based on the Copenhagen Suborbitals point of view. I talked with project co-founder Kristian von Bengston about the project's progress so far, as well as what the next steps are. Among those next steps: in summer 2014, the Suborbitals team plans to launch their HEAT2X lift vehicle loaded with the TDS-80 capsule; you can download the preliminary trajectory projections for both the launcher and the capsule.

10 of 26 comments (clear)

  1. Looks like they are about 5 years behind SpaceX by Glasswire · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Do they think they will be cheaper or more capable or exceed Elon Musk's company by any metric in 5 years?

    1. Re:Looks like they are about 5 years behind SpaceX by KvonBengtson · · Score: 5, Informative

      We have an annual budget of app. 400.000 dollars.. so yes,, very much cheaper.. We are hitting app 1:5000 in cost so far... But bare in mind that this is not a commercial project - we are doing this for fun and to challenge ourselves.. So, we cannot be compared with SpaceX..

    2. Re:Looks like they are about 5 years behind SpaceX by capedgirardeau · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I think you guys would do well to emphasize you are a non-profit, amateur group.

      It looks at a glance like you are trying to do stuff commercially and so are judged based on that impression.

      People would end up with a totally different impression if they understood this is basically a very advanced hobby for you and your team.

      And I do not mean to say you are amateurs, just that you are not a for profit commercial enterprise. There is probably a good English word for what is between those two but I can't think of it.

      --
      Wax on, wax off baby!
  2. Ask Slashdot looking for legal loopholes by capedgirardeau · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I am assuming this is the same Copenhagen Suborbitals that was asking /. for legal advice recently:

    Ask Slashdot: Legal Advice Or Loopholes Needed For Manned Space Program

    That did not instill confidence in me.

    --
    Wax on, wax off baby!
  3. No, they are 50 years behind SpaceX by mbkennel · · Score: 2, Insightful

    SpaceX has the goal to be a successful orbital rocketry business.

    These guys have the goal to noodle around and blow stuff up. Their capability is somewhere in the 1940's. Note "suborbital" << "orbital". You can go up to be 'suborbital'. If you want orbital you have to go up but more importantly around very very fast.
    Orbital velocity is about 7 km/s. The plot on these guys's page shows velocity topping out at 0.7 km/s. So they have 1/100th the energy needed for orbit (and obviously they have no capability to do multi-staging which is quite non-trivial to do reliably). And if they put more fuel in, then the mass goes up even more. It's just useless hobby waste.

    Thing about rocket science is that SpaceX knows it's rocket science and employs people who know the scientific and engineering experience of 50 years of rocketry. They know they actually need substantial simulation and material science experimentation. They know they need to build a rocket engine test stand and understand fundamental dynamics in many regimes including near vacuum.

    1. Re:No, they are 50 years behind SpaceX by LifesABeach · · Score: 2

      In the 1940's, the V2 altitude was 200km+, and the fuel I've heard was kerosine, Wikipedia says Liquid O2, Ethanol and Water. I guess we can ignore the fuel that the Titan IV uses, its shelf life is about a year. Of course SCUDS are more modern. But if one wants to have folks live to tell the tale, SpaceX's solution seems to look good. But Vigin Galatic with White Knight 2, and SS2 look like fun. I'm hoping all these companies succeed.

      Now if only someone could work out the math kinks for Anti Gravity.

  4. Re:2 minute advertisement?! by smaddox · · Score: 2

    I should have specified. There was a 2 min 20 sec long IBM commercial before I could watch the interview.

  5. Re:2 minute advertisement?! by capedgirardeau · · Score: 4, Informative

    I felt the same way. But really it is because they are not making clear they are basically an amateur serious rocketry hobby group. More professional than just hobbyists because their goal is manned missions, but not a for profit commercial company.

    That makes it a lot more cool with me. Their name and their descriptions (the English ones I mean) just make them sound too commercial without some background and explanation.

    --
    Wax on, wax off baby!
  6. Re:2 minute advertisement?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    They still are a Danish amateur rocket group :)

  7. Re: Armadillo, Masten, Beal, Blu, and Virgin Galac by anders.feder.83 · · Score: 2

    The companies you mention are all, well, companies. They are all in it for the profit, and they will protect the use of their technology as aggressively as Microsoft protect their source code and software patents. Copenhagen Suborbitals are trying to do the opposite: to make a viable rocket engine and capsule design and make it all freely available for other organizations to use and improve upon under "open source"-equivalent terms.