Nebula (space rockets)

2024: Crash during tests

On September 22, 2024, the private Chinese aerospace company Deep Blue Aerospace tested its reusable Nebula-1 rocket. In the last stage of the flight, the onboard systems crashed, and the rocket crashed, crashing to the ground.

The Nebula-1 was launched from the Ejin Banner cosmodrome in Inner Mongolia. The purpose of the program was to test the first stage, including the possibility of its vertical landing. The diameter of the rocket is 3.35 m, the height of the first stage is about 21 m. More than 90% of the main structure is made of high-temperature alloys using 3D printing technology.

Deep Blue Aerospace

The first stage of the Nebula-1 is equipped with nine Leiting-20 engines (Grom-20), which run on kerosene and liquid oxygen. During the tests, three such units were involved. The fuel tanks were refueled one-fifth of their capacity.

After launch, the rocket successfully climbed to a given altitude, where two of the three engines were disconnected. Further, the Nebula-1, as planned, deployed the landing supports and hung over the landing site. However, due to an anomaly during the final phase of descent, the rocket crashed onto the landing pad.

Preliminary analysis of the data showed that during landing there were problems in the servo motor of the engine thrust control. If not for this failure, the landing accuracy could be 0.5 meters. Deep Blue Aerospace reported that 10 out of 11 tasks were successfully completed during the program. The entire flight lasted 179 seconds. It is emphasized that the test was carried out in accordance with strict safety protocols. At the same time, the launch of the rocket was captured on a drone camera from various angles. The next tests are Nebula-1 scheduled for November 2024.^[1]

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