Rainer Groh

Tag: Startup

  • Podcast Ep. #45 – Industrialising Rocket Science with Rocket Factory Augsburg

    Stefan Brieschenk is the Chief Operating Officer of Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA), a company in the south of Germany that is developing a low-cost launch vehicle. RFA’s vision is to drastically reduce the cost of access to space through large-scale industrialisation of their operations and manufacturing.

    Key to RFA’s design approach is a holistic performance and cost optimisation tool that has been developed in collaboration with space industry veterans MT Aerospace and OHB. This approach has led to interesting design choices. For example, the second stage tank is based on inexpensive stainless steel construction, and in places where composite materials are being used, RFA is relying on automotive grade materials that have already been used in high-volume production. In their propulsive system, however, RFA is chasing the highest performance—a closed-cycle staged combustion engine, enabled by modern manufacturing capabilities in 3D printing and which is due to be hot-fired early next year.

    In this episode of the Aerospace Engineering podcast, Stefan and I talk about:

    • Stefan’s passion for rocketry and hypersonic flight
    • his background at Rocket Lab and MT Aerospace
    • the gap between the European and US space sectors
    • RFA’s launch vehicle and design approach
    • and Stefan’s vision for the European space sector

    Selected Links from the Episode

  • Podcast Ep. #34 – Aerospace Startups and the ATI Boeing Accelerator

    Wil Benton is the Venture & Ecosystem Director for the ATI Boeing Accelerator in London, UK. The Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) is a UK organisation that creates the technology strategy for the UK aerospace sector and funds world-class research and development. The ATI recently launched a startup accelerator to accelerate the growth of new companies in industry 4.0 and sustainable development, with the aim of bolstering the growth and competitiveness of the UK aerospace industry. The programme is designed to help startups establish commercial relationships with global aerospace companies, like Boeing and GKN Aerospace, and to raise follow-on funding and engage with the wider UK aerospace sector. The first cohort of companies was recently announced and and you can check out a video of the selection day below.

    Wil’s background is originally in the tech industry as a founder of Chew, a live streaming platform for DJ’s, as well as an angel investor and startup advisor for the startup accelerator Ignite. In this episode, Wil and I speak about:

    • his career background and route into the aerospace industry
    • the goal and operational principle of the ATI Boeing Accelerator
    • some of the aerospace startups in the first cohort of the accelerator
    • and Wil’s passion for entrepreneurship and STEM engagement

    Selected Links from the Episode

  • Podcast Ep. #17 – Alba Orbital Engineer Andrew Dunn on PocketQubes

    On this episode of the Aerospace Engineering Podcast I am speaking to Andrew Dunn who is an engineer at the satellite company Alba Orbital in Glasgow, Scotland. Alba Orbital is in the business of building PocketQubes, which are miniaturised satellites mainly used for space science, Earth imaging and space exploration. As the name suggests, PocketQubes are pocket-sized, usually around 5 cm (2 in) cubed and weighing no more than 180 grams. What is more, PocketQubes are typically assembled entirely from commercial off-the-shelf components, driven mostly by the miniaturisation of smartphone electronics, and this makes PocketQubes an ideal low-cost testbed for university labs and smaller startup companies.

    Traditional satellites of the last decades often took so long to develop that by the time they were launched into space, the technology was already out of date. Furthermore, their large size increased launch costs and most components were one-off designs that made them too expensive but for the largest companies. Alba Orbital is currently developing the Unicorn-2 PocketQube platform, which is a modular design that can host different payloads, such as optical equipment, deployable antennas or a radio module, but is built on a foundation of integrated electronics that can serve any need. In this episode, Andrew and I talk about:

    • the unique features of PocketQubes
    • their components and how they are manufactured
    • and Alba Orbital’s future plans for the Unicorn-2 platform

    Selected Links from the Episode

  • Podcast Ep. #16 – Max Haot and Launcher’s Ten-year Journey to Deliver Small Satellites to Orbit

    On this episode I am speaking to Max Haot, who is the founder of Launcher, a rocket startup based out of Brooklyn, NY. Launcher was founded in early 2017 and is on a ten-year journey to deliver small satellites to orbit. More specifically, Launcher plans to deliver payloads of up to 300 kg into low-earth orbit cheaper than anyone else in the growing small launcher market; a market specialising on small satellites that will deliver GPS, internet services and earth imaging in the near future.

    The most difficult part of launching satellites into orbit is building a robust and reliable rocket engine. On top of that, the physics of the rocket equation dictate very stringent constraints on the mass of the rocket and payload. To launch a satellite into low-earth orbit, a typical liquid-oxygen/kerosene rocket is around 95% propellant on the launchpad. So any fuel savings from a more efficient rocket engine can go towards increasing the payload. Launcher has spent the last year working on their proof-of-concept engine, the E-1, and are now in the process of spending the next three years developing the 40x larger E-2 engine. Key to Launcher’s rocket engine is 3D printing and a staged combustion cycle. 3D printing allows for a reduction in parts, faster development times, and easier manufacturing of complex geometries such as integrated cooling channels, which all help to reduce costs. In a staged combustion cycle, a favourite of Soviet rocket engineers, propellant flows through two combustion chambers, a preburner and a main combustion chamber. The pressure produced by igniting a small amount of propellant in the preburner can be used to power the turbo pumps that force the remaining propellant into the main combustion chamber. The addition of the preburner leads to better fuel efficiency, but comes at the cost of greater engineering complexity.

    One of the things I love about Launcher is that they face this daunting engineering challenge with the utmost humility, documenting many of their failures and successes online for everyone to see. In this way, anyone can get a glimpse of what it means to build a rocket company from scratch. In this episode of the Aerospace Engineering Podcast you will learn:

    • how Max got into the space industry
    • the engineering details behind many aspects of the E-1 engine
    • the advantages of 3D printing and stage combustion
    • and Launcher’s current schedule for developing the full-size E-2 engine

    Selected Links from the Episode

  • Podcast Ep. #15 – Nick Sills on Contra-Rotating Electric Propulsion

    On this episode I am speaking to Nick Sills who is the founder of Contra Electric Propulsion Ltd. Nick’s engineering background is in developing underwater propulsion systems for the offshore oil and gas industry. He has designed products ranging from a hydraulically powered excavator for pipeline route trenching, to the world’s biggest deep water excavator. He received a Queen’s Award for Technological Achievement for the “Jet Prop” tool, a 5 m diameter propeller that is powered by ejecting high pressure seawater from its propeller blades.

    Nick founded his most recent company, Contra Electric Propulsion, to develop a contra-rotating propeller system for the light aircraft market. Contra-rotating propeller systems typically use two propellers mounted in series that spin in opposite directions. The fact that props are spinning in both directions alleviates many of the attitude and control problems when flying aircraft.

    Contra-rotation has rarely found its way onto modern, gas-powered aircraft because the variable-pitch requirement for efficient operation has made the system overly expensive, complex and maintenance intensive. By changing the power source from fossil fuels to electrons, however, many components of the modern aircraft can be designed differently. With new electric motors it is now possible to build a much simpler, fixed-pitch, contra-rotating propulsion system for light aircraft.

    As an aerobatic pilot, Nick immediately realised the massive advantages of instantaneous torque delivery and reversible thrust that electric motors can provide. That’s why he believes that the next big advance in light aircraft propulsion will be a battery-powered, twin motor, contra-rotating system with fixed-pitch propellers. Since this has now become technically feasible, he is privately building one to prove it.

    Selected Links from the Episode

  • Podcast Ep. #14 – Dufour Aerospace Co-Founder Thomas Pfammatter on the aEro2 VTOL Electric Aircraft

    On this episode I am speaking to Thomas Pfammatter, who is the co-founder of the Swiss electric aircraft startup Dufour Aerospace. Dufour is currently designing an electric aircraft with vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) capabilities for the urban and rural transport market. The promise of their current aircraft, the aEro 2, is that with VTOL capabilities it can take-off and land pretty much anywhere, which can considerably reduce travel times, especially to places that are difficult to reach by car or train.

    There is a long-standing compromise in aviation between taking-off vertically, and being able to travel fast horizontally. Dufour Aerospace believes that with electric propulsion it is possible to combine these two worlds. To achieve this, Dufour are using a tilt-wing design fitted with two propellers. The wing and attached propellers can pivot around a hinge between the horizontal and vertical planes, and thereby provide exceptional lift, stability and control characteristics even in slow flight. Dufour have proven their electrical aviation ambitions with the aEro1 aerobatic aircraft and are currently in the process of developing the tilt-wing aEro 2 airplane. In this episode you will learn about many of the details behind Dufour’s technology such as:

    • the tilt-wing concept and the tail fan used for pitch control
    • the aerodynamic importance of the vortex ring state
    • the future of regional travel and how Dufour hopes to influence this space

    Selected Links from the Episode

  • Podcast Ep. #13 – Skyrora’s Lead Engineer Robin Hague on Scotland’s New Satellite Launch Capability

    Robin Hague is the Lead Engineer at the rocket startup Skyrora based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The goal of Skyrora is to provide a dedicated launch vehicle for small satellites. It has never been cheaper to build small satellites that provide imaging and communication services, and this sector of the space economy is expected to grow rapidly over the coming years. The UK is a world leader in the small satellite business—with Glasgow in Scotland building more satellites than any other city in Europe—but there is currently a shortfall of dedicated launchers for these satellite companies. Skyrora hopes to serve this market by launching rockets from Norther Scotland, which has great access to polar and sun-synchronous orbits. In this episode of the Aerospace Engineering podcast Robin and I talk about:

    • the history of British rocketry (the Black Arrow)
    • the benefits of using hydrogen peroxide as a propellant
    • the role of 3D printing in modern rocket engines
    • and the future of Skyrora.

    Selected Links from the Episode

  • Podcast Ep. #10 – Kitty Hawk Roboticist Dr Mark Cutler on UAVs, Machine Learning and Personalised Flying

    Dr Mark Cutler has a PhD in Robotics and Autonomous Systems from MIT. He has researched multiple aspects of UAV technology—from designing and building his own novel quadrotor for aerobatic flight to developing machine learning algorithms for autonomous systems. Mark is currently working for the California-based startup Kitty Hawk backed by Google founder Larry Page.

    At Kitty Hawk, Mark is applying his expertise in rotorcraft to create the next generation of vehicles for everyday flight. Kitty Hawk are currently designing, testing and building all-electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles for work and play. Their first product, the Cora, is an air taxi that could one day bring us an UBER-like service for the sky, and Kitty Hawk is currently in the first stages of testing the Cora in New Zealand. In this episode of the Aerospace Engineering Podcast, Mark and I talk about:

    • his diverse background in UAV’s
    • the explosion of hobbyist rotorcraft
    • the promises of machine learning for autonomous flight
    • and the future of personalised flying

    Selected Links from the Episode

  • Podcast Ep. #9 – Faradair Founder Neil Cloughley on the Bio-Electric Hybrid Aircraft and Regional Aviation

    Neil Cloughley is the founder and managing director of Faradair, the UK’s leading hybrid aviation programme. Neil has a broad background in the aviation industry ranging from aircraft re-marketing and aircraft leasing to starting his own aircraft consultancy business, which found him working with the world’s major airlines, OEMs and trailblazing companies like Virgin Galactic. Neil’s father developed one of the most advanced unmanned aerial vehicles of the early 1990s, and had a flying prototype before the General Atomics MQ-1 Predator entered service in 1995. Unfortunately, as a result of being slightly ahead of its time, and due to a lack of funds and unfortunate timing, ASVEC UK had to close its doors.

    Neil is now stepping into his father’s footsteps and building the bio-electric hybrid aircraft (BEHA) drawing from many of the lessons he learned from his father. The BEHA is a six-passenger aircraft with a hybrid gas and electric propulsion system, and is to be used for regional travel of around 200 miles. The BEHA has an unconventional design with a triple-staggered wing, an all-composite airframe and a ducted propeller. These design decisions reflect the three key specifications that need to be met to make regional inter-city flight a reality: minimising noise, emissions and operational costs. In this conversation, Neil and I talk about

    • the engineering behind BEHA
    • the challenging economics of new aviation businesses
    • his long-term vision for a regional Uber-like taxi service in the sky
    • and much, much more

    Selected Links from the Episode