Atmos Space Cargo Successfully Tests Space Capsule for Payload Transport

Atmos Space Cargo, a space transportation company based in Baden-Württemberg, has successfully tested its new Phoenix capsule designed to transport payloads to space and safely return them to Earth. Despite encountering some challenges, the test is being hailed as a significant milestone in the company's development.

The Phoenix Return Capsule was launched aboard a Falcon 9 rocket during the early hours of Tuesday. The launch took place at 2:48 AM local time from Cape Canaveral in Florida, with the capsule deployed into low Earth orbit (LEO). However, the trajectory of the mission was altered by SpaceX for the Bandwagon 3 mission, which was initially set to have the Phoenix capsule land in the Indian Ocean, east of the island of La Réunion. As a result, Atmos Space Cargo had prepared ground stations to receive data from the capsule.

Due to the change in the flight path, the capsule's intended landing point was shifted to over the coast of Brazil, leading it to be expected to land approximately 2,000 kilometers off the Brazilian coast in the Atlantic Ocean.

Company CEO Sebastian Klaus took to the skies in a small aircraft to monitor the capsule's descent, but was unable to do so due to overcast conditions, leaving the safety of Phoenix's return uncertain. Additionally, the team was unable to retrieve data from the capsule during its descent, as communication is typically lost during re-entry. Consequently, they were missing vital data from a seven-minute window, which was intended to be downloaded from the aircraft, but this proved unsuccessful.

Despite these setbacks, Klaus regarded the mission as a success, mentioning that some flight data had already been analyzed and that scientific experiments aboard the Phoenix capsule were activated. He noted, "This represents a significant advancement for Europe," while acknowledging that it would take time to fully assess all the collected data.

The Phoenix Return Capsule is designed to carry scientific experiments into space and autonomously return to Earth. The capsule features a cylindrical structure, approximately one meter in height, constructed from a composite material reinforced with carbon fibers, housing various experiments in specialized boxes that can remain in space for durations ranging from a few hours to three months, either pressurized or unpressurized.

Notably, the Phoenix capsule employs an innovative inflatable heat shield system, known as the Inflatable Atmospheric Decelerator (IAD), instead of a conventional heat shield. This system consists of a fabric that inflates into a doughnut-shaped cushion, which simultaneously acts as a heat shield and decelerator during descent.

For this test flight, only four experiments were included, such as a radiation detector from the German Aerospace Center and a bioreactor from the British firm Frontier Space. Future versions of the Phoenix capsule are expected to have the capacity for significantly larger payloads.

Additionally, the next iteration, Phoenix-2, is being developed with its own propulsion system, allowing for more precise control over its landing location. The second capsule is scheduled for a mission next year, with plans for it to land near the Azores in the Atlantic.