For the development of winged rockets, from 2005 to 2008, we designed and manufactured small rockets WIRES # 001 to WIRES # 010 and conducted flight experiments for the development of winged rockets. The purpose is to check the operation of onboard equipment such as microcomputers, GPS, and attitude sensor and to verify the recovery system mechanism.
WIRES#011 is the first winged rocket in the Space Systems Laboratory for the purpose of acquiring flight data from GPS, ADS, IMU, etc. and conducting guided and controlled flight in the ascending phase.length is 0.9m, mass is 7.8kg, maximum altitude is 400m. At present, flight experiments are not being conducted, but the technology developed by this vehicle is being utilized to the current design and development.
WIRES#012 is the preliminary experimental rocket for the development of WIRES#014. The objective of WIRES#012 is to establish the design methodology of the CFRP (Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic) body structure and a recovery system. Its main configuration is the same as that of WIRES#014, and it is equipped with four fins instead of the main wing and tail wing. After 2 failed flight experiments, the flight experiment was successful on September 29, 2011. after that, this vehicle is conducted flight experiments for autonomous guided flight using parafoil in collaborate with the IHI aerospace.
Since 2012, WIRES#014 is under development, it has a 1.7m length and aims to reach an altitude of 1km. This vehicle conducts flight test in order to verify the preliminary technologies of the designed on-board autonomous NGC system.
In order to demonstrate elementary technologies of reusable space transportation system, we have developed WIRES#015 since 2013. This rocket will be launched on Mojave desert, US.