RX (rocket family) explained

RX
Designer:National Institute of Aeronautics and Space
Country:Indonesia
Spacecraft Type:Solid-fuel rockets
Capacities:
Status:Under development
Stagedata:

The RX rocket family (Roket Eksperimental, English: Experimental Rocket) is a series of solid-fuel rockets developed by the Indonesian National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (LAPAN).

They are simply named by their diameter in millimeters; for example, the RX-250 has a diameter of 250mm.[1] The propellant used is HTPB-based composite propellant.

Individual boosters

This family is composed of:[2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

VersionDiameter (mm)Length (m)Thrust (kN)Burn time (s)Specific impulse (s)Propellant mass (kg)Total mass (kg)Payload (kg)FlightsYears activeApogee reached (km)Range reached (km)
RX-7575
RX-1001001.902.530711
RX-122012219.62015-201925
RX-150150
RX-2502505.30536.022030030–6081987–200770–100
RX-3203204.74529.022037153232008–201440–42
RX-4204209412.32204251200943
RX-4504507.1112619.5230757-765171852015-202044-84129
RX-550550255142401519
RX-750750
RX-980980

Note: Characteristics in italics are design values, they have not been measured yet.

RX-250 was launched eight times from 1987 to 2007.[7] RX-320 was launched twice in 2008[8] and once again in 2014.[9] RX-420 flew just once in 2009;[10] it is superseded by RX-450 which was launched on 13 May 2015.[11] [12]

, the next booster version RX-550 is under construction; the larger ones are only on the drawing board.

In 2017 successful launches of RX 450 and RX 1220 were carried out from the Space and Atmospheric Observation & Technology Testing Center at Garut, West Java.[13] The RX 1220 is a based on the R-HAN122 B.

Two RX-1220 rockets were launched at the Karang Papak Air Force Base on December 23, 2018.[14]

Multi-stage rockets

Once the solid boosters are fully qualified, LAPAN plans to assemble several of them into multi-stage rockets called Roket Pengorbit Satelit or RPS. Four staging configurations have been retained so far:[15]

Earlier plans for the Pengorbitan-1 and -2 orbital launch vehicles (RPS-420s) were based on the RX-420 engine which was superseded by the RX-450., integration work is proceeding on variants 3a and 3b, whose engines have all been successfully flight-qualified.

Since 2019, LAPAN's rocket division PUSTEKROKET has collaborated with AASPT and CGWIC of China in designing newer multiple stage sounding rockets. The new rockets will be called RX-452 which combined 400mm of first stage, and 450mm of second stage. The design is based on TK-32 sounding rocket as well as RX-450. It is expected the newer design to be able to reach above 100km (100miles), simulation showed the rocket is able to reach 200km (100miles).[17]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: LAPAN and Indonesian Rocket Program | Indomil's Blog . Indomil.wordpress.com . 2009-05-24 . 2016-02-13.
  2. Web site: RPS-01 . B14643.de . 2016-02-13.
  3. Web site: RX solid rocket motors . 26 May 2016 . B14643.de.
  4. Web site: LAPAN Chronology . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110223170706/http://www.astronautix.com/mfrs/lapan.htm . February 23, 2011 . 2016-02-13 . Astronautix.com.
  5. Web site: LAPAN . 2023-08-20 . www.b14643.de.
  6. Web site: RX solid rocket motors . 2023-08-20 . www.b14643.de.
  7. Web site: RX-250-LPN . 2023-08-20 . www.astronautix.com.
  8. Web site: RX-320 . 2023-08-20 . www.astronautix.com.
  9. id . Menuju Roket Pengorbit Satelit, RX-320 Sukses Mengudara dan RX-450 Terukur Karakteristiknya . Towards the Satellite Orbiter Rocket, successful flight of RX-320 and performance measurements of RX-450 . . 25 August 2014 . 25 May 2016 .
  10. Web site: RX-420 . 2023-08-20 . www.astronautix.com.
  11. id . Tahapan Menuju Roket Pengorbit Satelit, Lapan Berhasil Luncurkan RX-450 . A step towards the Satellite Orbiter Rocket, LAPAN successfully launches RX-450 . . 14 May 2015 . 25 May 2016.
  12. Web site: RPS-01 (RX-450) . 2023-08-20 . www.b14643.de.
  13. Web site: Goh . Deyana . 2017-12-10 . Indonesia successfully launches two sounding rockets . 2023-08-20 . SpaceTech Asia . en-US.
  14. Web site: Nurw . 14 January 2019 . DEFENSE STUDIES: Uji Terbang Roket RX-1220 LAPAN . 2023-08-20 . DEFENSE STUDIES.
  15. Web site: RPS-01 Staging . B14643.de . 26 May 2016.
  16. Web site: RPS-01 . 2023-08-20 . www.b14643.de.
  17. Web site: Lakin Pustekroket . kinerja.lapan.go.id . 2020-07-28.