UP Aerospace
Encyclopedia
UP Aerospace, Inc. is a private spaceflight
corporation based out of Denver, Colorado
. UP Aerospace provides ultra-low cost space access and payload transportation for corporate, military and educational payloads, via their SpaceLoft XL
Sounding rocket
launch vehicles.
in Upham, New Mexico
. The vehicle failed to go higher than 40,000 ft due to a malfunction attributed to faulty fin design and unexpected aerodynamic effects.
UP Aerospace has conducted eight launches from Spaceport America during 2006-2009, including three in 2009
They plan to "double the number of customer launches from Spaceport America to six or more in 2010 as demand for the company's services increases."
James Doohan
, who played Chief Engineer Scott on the 1960s television series Star Trek
, and from astronaut Gordon Cooper
, were rocketed into suborbital space (along with ashes of about 200 other people) by UP Aerospace from Spaceport America
. This was the first successful launch from the site. The payload container was recovered 18 May 2007.
As of August 2007, UP Aerospace began offering low-cost launches to youth and students through the Space Generation Advisory Council
. Under this arrangement members of the Space Generation can send their own experiments or novelty payloads into space for as low as US$2000 per experiment. From 2008, the Space Generation Advisory Council will host a range of competitions for youth to address specific technical or logistical challenges through the design of their own UP Aerospace TinySat module.
In April 2008, UP Aerospace was hired by the large US aerospace company Lockheed Martin
to provide launch services at Spaceport America for a test rocket program. Lockheed Martin stated that they are trying to create a lower-cost-to-orbit cargo service, using a winged vehicle launched atop a land-based rocket. UP Aerospace and the New Mexico location were chosen to aid in testing prototype systems. UP Aerospace was chosen, particularly, because of their experience launching rockets at Spaceport America.
Private spaceflight
Private spaceflight is flight above Earth altitude conducted by and paid for by an entity other than a government. In the early decades of the Space Age, the government space agencies of the Soviet Union and United States pioneered space technology augmented by collaboration with affiliated design...
corporation based out of Denver, Colorado
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
. UP Aerospace provides ultra-low cost space access and payload transportation for corporate, military and educational payloads, via their SpaceLoft XL
SpaceLoft XL
The SpaceLoft XL is a sounding rocket developed by UP Aerospace. The rocket has a diameter of 10 inches , and is 20 feet long. It is capable of lofting a 110 lb payload to a sub-orbital trajectory with an apogee of 140 miles...
Sounding rocket
Sounding rocket
A sounding rocket, sometimes called a research rocket, is an instrument-carrying rocket designed to take measurements and perform scientific experiments during its sub-orbital flight. The origin of the term comes from nautical vocabulary, where to sound is to throw a weighted line from a ship into...
launch vehicles.
History and Future Plans
The first launch of the SpaceLoft XL occurred on September 25, 2006 from Spaceport AmericaSpaceport America
Spaceport America is a spaceport located in the Jornada del Muerto desert basin in New Mexico, United States. It lies north of El Paso, north of Las Cruces, east of Truth or Consequences...
in Upham, New Mexico
Upham, New Mexico
Upham is an uninhabited, unincorporated town and place in Sierra County, New Mexico, United States. It has gained recognition for being near the site for the Spaceport America facility being developed by the New Mexico Spaceport Authority...
. The vehicle failed to go higher than 40,000 ft due to a malfunction attributed to faulty fin design and unexpected aerodynamic effects.
UP Aerospace has conducted eight launches from Spaceport America during 2006-2009, including three in 2009
They plan to "double the number of customer launches from Spaceport America to six or more in 2010 as demand for the company's services increases."
SL-2 flight
On April 28, 2007, some of the cremated remains of actorJames Doohan
James Doohan
James Montgomery "Jimmy" Doohan was a Canadian character and voice actor best known for his role as Montgomery "Scotty" Scott in the television and film series Star Trek...
, who played Chief Engineer Scott on the 1960s television series Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
, and from astronaut Gordon Cooper
Gordon Cooper
Leroy Gordon Cooper, Jr. , also known as Gordon Cooper, was an American aeronautical engineer, test pilot and NASA astronaut. Cooper was one of the seven original astronauts in Project Mercury, the first manned space effort by the United States...
, were rocketed into suborbital space (along with ashes of about 200 other people) by UP Aerospace from Spaceport America
Spaceport America
Spaceport America is a spaceport located in the Jornada del Muerto desert basin in New Mexico, United States. It lies north of El Paso, north of Las Cruces, east of Truth or Consequences...
. This was the first successful launch from the site. The payload container was recovered 18 May 2007.
As of August 2007, UP Aerospace began offering low-cost launches to youth and students through the Space Generation Advisory Council
Space Generation Advisory Council
The Space Generation Advisory Council in support of the United Nations Programme on Space Applications is a non-governmental organization which "aims to bring the views of students and young space professionals to the United Nations, Space Agencies and other organisations".SGAC's primary work has...
. Under this arrangement members of the Space Generation can send their own experiments or novelty payloads into space for as low as US$2000 per experiment. From 2008, the Space Generation Advisory Council will host a range of competitions for youth to address specific technical or logistical challenges through the design of their own UP Aerospace TinySat module.
In April 2008, UP Aerospace was hired by the large US aerospace company Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin is an American global aerospace, defense, security, and advanced technology company with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, in the Washington Metropolitan Area....
to provide launch services at Spaceport America for a test rocket program. Lockheed Martin stated that they are trying to create a lower-cost-to-orbit cargo service, using a winged vehicle launched atop a land-based rocket. UP Aerospace and the New Mexico location were chosen to aid in testing prototype systems. UP Aerospace was chosen, particularly, because of their experience launching rockets at Spaceport America.