ILR-33 AMBER (and BURSZTYN ) is a Polish multistage suborbital

rocket A rocket (from , and so named for its shape) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using any surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely ...

designed by Warsaw Institute of Aviation – Łukasiewicz Research Network. The main goal of development of AMBER is gaining experience in building rocket engines and rockets themselves. AMBER can be used in sounding the atmosphere, performing various experiments in

microgravity Weightlessness is the complete or near-complete absence of the sensation of weight, i.e., zero apparent weight. It is also termed zero g-force, or zero-g (named after the g-force) or, incorrectly, zero gravity. Weight is a measurement of the fo ...

and as a rocket and space technologies testing platform.

Description

The rocket is 5 meters tall and has a diameter of 230 mm. It consists of two solid boosters and hybrid main engine. The main engine is a Polish construction which uses highly concentrated

hydrogen peroxide Hydrogen peroxide is a chemical compound with the formula . In its pure form, it is a very pale blue liquid that is slightly more viscosity, viscous than Properties of water, water. It is used as an oxidizer, bleaching agent, and antiseptic, usua ...

oxidiser An oxidizing agent (also known as an oxidant, oxidizer, electron recipient, or electron acceptor) is a substance in a redox chemical reaction that gains or " accepts"/"receives" an electron from a (called the , , or ''electron donor''). In ot ...

. High test peroxide is produced in-house by the Institute of Aviation and has a concentration of 98%, offering increased

specific impulse Specific impulse (usually abbreviated ) is a measure of how efficiently a reaction mass engine, such as a rocket engine, rocket using propellant or a jet engine using fuel, generates thrust. In general, this is a ratio of the ''Impulse (physics), ...

and density in comparison with the more commonly used 85-87.5% peroxide. AMBER has a reusable head. The recovery of payload is done by pyrotechnical separation from head and deploying

drogue A drogue or storm drogue is a device trailed behind a boat on a long line attached to the stern. A drogue is used to slow the boat down in a storm and to prevent the hull (watercraft), hull from becoming side-on to the water waves, waves. A boa ...

and main

parachute A parachute is a device designed to slow an object's descent through an atmosphere by creating Drag (physics), drag or aerodynamic Lift (force), lift. It is primarily used to safely support people exiting aircraft at height, but also serves va ...

s. The payload touches down on the ground at a speed of about 8 m/s. ILR-33 AMBER is designed to reach the

Kármán line The Kármán line (or von Kármán line ) is a conventional definition of the Outer space#Boundary, edge of space; it is widely but not universally accepted. The international record-keeping body Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, FAI ( ...

with 10 kilograms of payload. AMBER is a flagship project of Warsaw Institute of Aviation – Łukasiewicz Research Network.

History

The rocket has been in development since 2014. The

oxidising agent An oxidizing agent (also known as an oxidant, oxidizer, electron recipient, or electron acceptor) is a substance in a redox chemical reaction that gains or " accepts"/"receives" an electron from a (called the , , or ''electron donor''). In ot ...

of the main engine is highly concentrated H₂O₂, as researchers from

Institute An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

have patented a unique method of obtaining this compound by distillation. The project was repeatedly awarded: the jury of International Invention and Innovation Show INTARG 2018 gave the platinum medal in category "Industry" and

Ministry of Investment and Economic Development The Ministry of Investment and Economic Development () was an agency of the government of Poland. The ministry was headquartered in Warsaw and was formed from the Ministry of Development (Poland), Ministry of Development in 2018. Jerzy Kwieciński ...

diploma. On Moscow International Salon of Inventions and Innovation Technologies 2019 Łukasiewicz Research Network – Institute of Aviation has received a silver medal for solution: "ILR-33 AMBER rocket as system of inventions and innovative platform to conduct experiments in micro-g environment". Because of the need to adjust regulations to perform flights of AMBER and similar rockets, the boundaries of air space of CPSP Ustka were extended. Since 2019 a new version with higher performance is under development. New version is designated as the ILR-33 BURSZTYN 2K – which is a reference to the Meteor 2K rocket. AMBER 2K will be equipped with enlarged boosters. Mass optimization of subsystems is also taking place. The service module is being prepared to host payloads – atmospheric sounding equipment or experiments using a

micro-g environment Weightlessness is the complete or near-complete absence of the sensation of weight, i.e., zero apparent weight. It is also termed zero g-force, or zero-g (named after the g-force) or, incorrectly, zero gravity. Weight is a measurement of the fo ...

Missions

The first test flight took place in 2017 on Drawsko Military Training Ground^, during which there were basic assumptions, mechanisms and infrastructure of rocket verified in-flight. The maximum altitude of flight was limited due to restrictions of area where AMBER was tested. Another flight, planned on the end of 2018 was cancelled due to intense

jet stream Jet streams are fast flowing, narrow thermal wind, air currents in the Earth's Atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere. The main jet streams are located near the altitude of the tropopause and are westerly winds, flowing west to east around the gl ...

s. The second successful test was in may 2019 in Drawsko Pomorskie. There was modified rocket and new systems tested, i.a. steering module. On 10 September 2019 there was another flight performed to test steering system and the recovery of payload from the surface of the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

References

{{reflist Suborbital spaceflight Sounding rockets of Poland Aviation in Poland Hybrid-propellant rockets

Description

History

Missions

See also

References