A German startup was aiming to test a reentry capsule designed to reach orbit and survive the intense heat of returning to Earth. For its first flight, PHOENIX 1 launched to space as part of a SpaceX ride-share mission, but a change in launch plans largely messed the whole thing up.
ATMOS Space Cargo launched its PHOENIX 1 capsule at 8:48 p.m. ET on Monday, with the device tucked inside a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. About two hours after liftoff, the capsule reentered Earth’s atmosphere, but its splashdown point ended up much farther from the target than originally planned. Missing its intended splashdown zone meant that the spacecraft could not be recovered, and the company could not acquire valuable data and imagery of PHOENIX 1 to see how well it fared during reentry.
The company’s inaugural mission was designed to test the capsule’s heat shield during reentry. In doing so, ATMOS is hoping to develop a capsule capable of carrying out research in orbit and returning back to Earth with its payloads safe on board.
PHOENIX-1 was part of SpaceX’s Bandwagon-3 ride-share mission. The experimental spacecraft was loaded onto the rocket along with two other payloads: a satellite for South Korea’s military, and a weather satellite for a Boston-based company. However, not all payloads are created equal. Around five weeks before liftoff, SpaceX informed ATMOS of a change in plans brought on by its primary payload.
Due to operational constraints of the South Korean reconnaissance satellite, PHOENIX 1 found itself on a new flight path. “With a recent update in the overall mission design, our flight path angle and return trajectory has changed, so we went back to the drawing board to quickly adapt,” ATMOS wrote in a statement.
In anticipation of its launch, ATMOS had initially set up ground stations along the spacecraft’s path to “ensure continuous data downlink from our heat shield sensors and onboard payloads,” the company stated. PHOENIX 1 was initially supposed to follow a return trajectory designed to pass over those designated ground stations in Africa and Mauritius, before splashing down in the Indian Ocean off the eastern coast of La Réunion. The new trajectory, however, altered its return trajectory such that the spacecraft initiated its deorbit path over Los Angeles, crossing over Colombia and continuing over Cuiabá in central Brazil. The vehicle then splashed down off the coast of Brazil in the Atlantic Ocean.
The company was forced to set up new ground stations to establish communication with PHOENIX 1, and chartered a plane designed to collect data from the capsule during its reentry. The spacecraft’s splashdown ended up being around 310 miles (500 kilometers) farther off the coast, preventing ATMOS from acquiring the data.
ATMOS did receive data from four commercial payloads that were on board the vehicle, and initial indicators suggest that the capsule’s heat shield was inflated successfully.
Ride-share missions are designed to carry payloads to space at a lower cost, packing satellites and other spacecraft together on the same rocket. They do come with their own risks, but still provide a chance for space startups to get a go at reaching orbit.
“All in all, I would say it was a very successful mission,” ATMOS Space Cargo CEO Sebastian Klaus during a post-flight press conference.
