In May the Stratos II concept launcher was launched; a rocket to test components developed for the Stratos II project. Another successful launch of the rocket was performed on the 9th of September, after an aborted launch attempt in June.

Concept launcher in the tower just after ignition

After not being able to launch on the previous launch day in June, due to problems with other rockets that were also scheduled that day, only little work had to be done to prepare for flight in September. With only minor adjustments to the electronics and release mechanisms, the rocket was soon ready for launch.

This time the spectators could enjoy a successful launch: after ignition the rocket successfully left the tower. After 15 seconds the rocket reached apogee, and separated the nose cone from the motor. The separation of the nosecone and the ejection of the parachute worked flawlessly. Unfortunately, although the parachute folded in the squid bag did eject from the nose cone, the actual parachute deployment from the squid bag did not occur. This resulted in a rather rough touchdown and a flattened nose cone.

Tumbling nose cone with undeployed parachute

Remains of the nose cone after landing

However all flight data stored in four SD cards survived, making this launch a success. We now know which subsystems perform as expected and which subsystems need a makeover.
As the remains of our rocket are no longer airworthy, a new concept launcher will be made. With the knowledge gained from the last launch we are ready to make the change from provisional prototypes to well designed components. These will also be designed to withstand the complete operating conditions of the final Stratos II. We are making good progress, but a lot of testing still lies ahead.