The German startup aimed to test a capsule designed to reach orbit and survive in extreme heat during its return to Earth. On its maiden flight, PHOENIX 1 was launched into space as part of a joint mission with SpaceX, but a change in launch plans largely ruined the whole thing.
ATMOS Space Cargo launched the PHOENIX 1 capsule at 20:48 CET on Monday, placing the vehicle inside a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Approximately two hours after takeoff, the capsule re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere, but its impact point was much farther from the target than originally planned. The lack of the planned impact zone meant that the spacecraft could not be recovered, and the company was unable to obtain valuable data and images of PHENIX 1 to see how well it behaved during reentry.
The company’s first mission was to test the capsule’s heat shield during reentry. In this way, ATMOS hopes to develop a capsule capable of conducting research in orbit and returning to Earth with cargo on board safe and sound.
PHENIX-1 was part of SpaceX’s Bandwagon-3 shared-use mission. The experimental spacecraft was loaded onto the rocket along with two other payloads: a satellite for the South Korean military and a weather satellite for a Boston-based company. However, not all payloads are created equal. Approximately five weeks before the launch, SpaceX informed ATMOS of a change in plans caused by the main payload.
Due to the operational limitations of the South Korean reconnaissance satellite, PHENIX 1 found itself on a new flight path. “With the recent update of the overall mission design, the flight path inclination and return trajectory changed, so we went back to the drawing board to adapt quickly,” ATMOS said in a statement.
In the run-up to the launch, ATMOS first installed ground stations along the spacecraft’s trajectory to “ensure continuous data transmission from our heat shield sensors and onboard payload,” the company said. Initially, PHENIX 1 was supposed to follow a reverse trajectory that would fly over ground stations in Africa and Mauritius and then crash into the Indian Ocean off the east coast of La Reunion. However, the new trajectory changed the reentry path so that the spacecraft began its deorbital path over Los Angeles, crossed Colombia, and continued over Cuiaba in central Brazil. The spacecraft then crashed off the coast of Brazil in the Atlantic Ocean.
The company was forced to set up new ground stations to establish communication with PHENIX 1, as well as charter an aircraft designed to collect data from the capsule during its reentry. The spacecraft crashed about 310 miles (500 kilometers) from the coast, preventing ATMOS from collecting data.
ATMOS has received data from the four commercial payloads that were aboard the vehicle, and initial indications are that the capsule’s heat shield was successfully inflated.
Shared use missions are designed to deliver payloads into space at a lower cost by packing satellites and other spacecraft together on a single rocket. They involve certain risks, but still give space startups a chance to enter orbit.
“Overall, I would say it was a very successful mission,” said Sebastian Klaus, CEO of ATMOS Space Cargo, during the post-flight press conference.
