[Race into Space] Iberian Spaceflight

[shadowofneptune]

This is part of an ongoing race between several other players in Realistic Progression 1, a mod for RSS-RO.  The details can be found here:

Settings for the game:

Spoiler

 

 

Sāo Tomé, Q1, 1951

It was a dangerous time to be a lesser power in the world.  in 1949, Greece fell to the Communist forces.  The year after, Turkey was forced to cede Istanbul and the Dardanelles to joint Greek-Soviet Control.  A blitz occured in Korea at the same time, driving an underarmed South Korea to surrender before US forces could react.  Though history would remember the two caudillos of Spain and Portugal as a greater threat to their countries than the Communists ever were, both were expected to respond to the rising threat.  The secret agreement is perhaps surprising in hindsight, but sensible at the time: a joint atomic weapons program.  At a time where it was expected that eventually every country would field nuclear weapons, they seemed to be the only defense against the rising threat of Communist invasion.  Salazar and Franco were not exactly friends, but the isolated Iberian countries had little hope looking for defensive partners elsewhere.

 

On the first of January, 1951, project Dâmocles began.  Little considered at the time, but later a vital element of Spanish-Portuguese relations, was the Lançador/Lanzador project.  Deep in the forests of São Tomé, located near the midpoint of the Portuguese empire, test stands, barracks, laboratories, and rail lines were erected.  The initial goal was humble: develop industry familiarity with rocketry, with the eventual goal of developing an anti-air missile capable of destroying an enemy bomber long before it can reach its target.  The Portuguese airplane company OGMA began work with its Spanish counterpart CASA in developing engines, fuselages, and tooling for this task.

Meanwhile, the lead designers of the project began work on planning for the mission.  Currently, little was known about the upper atmosphere.  The first goal of the rocket program would be collecting detailed information about the characteristics of the atmosphere at high altitudes and supersonic speeds.

On January 1st, the program had a sufficient technological base to assemble a copy of the Aerobee rocket.

The early tests were not impressive  Soon after ignition, the C-1 rocket (Cohete 1) stuck the launch clamp, and it soared into the air like the opposite of a majestic eagle.  This was soon deduced by engineers to be due to the insufficient TWR and avionics of the rocket.  Missions would have to be launched straight up for the foreseeable future.

A further embarrassment was with the second flight.  Reaching early 40 km, cheers could be heard from the engineers assembled in the launch bunker.  These cheers turned into groans of dismay as they soon realized that the models for the rocket's descent were far off from reality.  Striking the Earth at supersonic speed , all scientific data collected by the sounding rocket was lost.

Hopes were not high for C-1 Mk. 3.  Word from the Treasury was that if this mission was to not exceed 55 km, the program would be cancelled.  Making sure to install radio equipment, they crowded around the receiver, watching as each second of data came in.  With the launch meeting the Treasury requirements, and getting to nearly 90 km, it was expected for the rocket to begin its long terminal fall towards the Earth.  To the great surprise and elation of all present, Mk. 3 opened its chutes and only received minor damaged upon impact.  Good things do come in threes.

Much of January and February had been spent working on only one rocket.  Thankfully, new research could begin based on its findings.  In the meantime, there was need for a C-2, a design based around three cores, capable of passing more than 100km above the surface of the Earth.  However, there was not much time left in the quarter.

It only was with a rushed production process that the first C-2 could be rolled out on March 31, 1951.  The initial launch seemed fine.  However, one by one, each of the seven engines shut down, just 30 km short of the Karman line.  It was a painful sight for the team.  At least the recovery capsule on the top survived.

A final launch had been fit into Q1, but at what cost?

Q1 Conclusions:
The areobee rockets are too unreliable to serve in the near future.  The C-2 will have two more launches before retirement.  New work will begin on higher efficiency rockets.

Wrobz beat us into space by a long shot reaching the Karman line on day 17.  A strategy will have to be formed to prevent future losses due to time constraints.