Engine ‘anomaly’ suspected as cause of UK rocket test explosion

The latest setback to the UK’s space communications programme, the explosion of a test vehicle at the SaxaVord spaceport located on the Shetland Islands, is being described by the satellite company as a “learning experience” that is necessary in a high risk, high reward industry.

SaxaVord is said to be the first fully licensed vertical launch spaceport in Europe. After securing spaceport and range licenses from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) for its developing site, which is designed for small rockets delivering payloads into low Earth orbit (LEO), it is preparing for the first orbital test flight in the autumn of 2024 at Lamba Ness in Unst, one of the most northerly parts of the UK.

The test flight was based on a craft from German rocket manufacturer Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA), which is currently undertaking an engine testing programme on the Unst site. RFA was founded in 2018, with a stated vision to enable data-generating business models in space to “better monitor, protect and connect our planet Earth”. “The goal is to offer launch services of up to 1.300kg into low Earth orbits and beyond on a weekly basis at highly competitive prices, democratising access to space and reducing launch costs in the space industry.

In November 2023, RFA UK received £3.5m in funding from the UK Space Agency to develop and operate the infrastructure and test equipment needed to enable the RFA One launch system and support its plans to launch from the spaceport in the Shetland Islands.

In March 2024, the UK government confirmed the UK Space Agency’s Connectivity in Low-Earth Orbit (C-LEO) programme would provide up to £160m of funding over the next four years to UK companies and researchers to develop innovative satellite communications technology.

At the time, the government said it regards satellite communication as a “vital technology”, and believes the commercial market for space communications is undergoing fundamental market evolution. The C-LEO programme has been designed to ensure the UK space sector is able to compete in the rapidly growing global market of low Earth orbit constellations.

Testing of the rockets has taken place at SaxaVord through the summer, looking to identify faults and issues prior to a full test flight campaign and carried out in what SaxaVord said was a “highly controlled and regulated” environment. However, on the evening of 19 August, as RFA was conducting a full nine-engine test of their first stage on the launch stool, SaxaVord described an “anomaly” resulting in a major fire.

In its first comment on the subsequent explosion, SaxaVord CEO Frank Strang said it was far too early to know exactly what caused the anomaly, and stressed that his company had followed all of the protocols set down under its operating licence. He was confident that once RFA get to the bottom of it they will rectify the situation and carry on with their programme.

“Like all in the sector [the RFA] team is passionate, committed and ultra professional in how they go about their business, and we at SaxaVord have nothing but praise for all of them,” he said. “Space is a high risk, high reward sector, and there will be lots of highs and lows in all our journeys. This anomaly was inevitable, and there will be more. As long as we all do our jobs to the best of our ability, then they will be resolved, we will all learn, and SaxaVord Spaceport and the space economy will grow.”

In his remarks, Strang also said that going forward, SaxaVord would use the explosion as “a learning experience”, and noted that in its early days, the successful SpaceX company “had several moments resulting in damage to both launch pads and launch vehicles, but now, with over 90 launches last year, they have proven that space transportation is as reliable and safe as any other form of transport”.

The explosion is the biggest setback to the UK’s space industry since the failure of the Virgin Orbit Start Me Up horizontal launch from Spaceport Cornwall at Newquay on 9 January 2023. Despite successfully taking off from the runway at Spaceport Cornwall under the wing of a converted Boeing 747-400 aircraft, travelling to the designated drop zone for its scheduled release, the Virgin Orbit LauncherOne vehicle failed to achieve its final orbit.