F. Klingenberg, F. Siebe, A. Gülhan, N. Wendel , R. Kronen
DOI Number XXX-YYY-ZZZ
Conference Number HiSST-2022-309
The ATEK flight was successfully launched in the early morning of 13th July 2019 from Esrange Space
Center near Kiruna (Sweden). ATEK used a two stage VSB-30 launcher with separation between gpayload and 2nd Stage at 60 seconds. Both structures reached an apogee of approx. 240km. The 2nd
stage had a flight time of approx. 500 seconds and landed without parachute at a speed of approx. 120
m/s. The g-payload used a parachute system and reached the ground 800 seconds after launch.
To monitor structural health condition the hybrid structure and many parts of the 2nd stage was
instrumented with pressure transducer, thermocouples, strain gauges, radiation sensors and special
miniaturized infrared cameras. Here a special attention was paid to the motor adapter, tailcan and fin
instrumentation. Fiber optic bragg gitters (FBG) were used to measure wall temperature at different
location. The hybrid structure was part of the g-payload.
The main achievement of the ATEK flight experiment was collecting valuable flight data from hybrid
module and 2nd stage of the flight configuration. During ATEK flight Health Monitoring System allowed
the measurement of aerothermal and mechanical loads on the hybrid payload structure, motor adapter,
motor case, tailcan and fins along the complete trajectory. The DLR’s Institute of Structures and Design
in Stuttgart has developed a new payload structure using ‘Automated Fiber Placement’ (AFP) technique
to manufacture a sounding rocket primary structure comprised of carbon fiber-reinforced thermoplastic
(CF-PEEK) as interface an aluminum flange was used. In addition, a new nozzle consisting of CMC ad
CFRP materials was developed for the 2nd stage motor, Although this nozzle passed the ground
qualification tests, it wasn’t used for the flight for safety reasons. To monitor these structures also a
new distributed data acquisition system was developed [2].