MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazil successfully launches and recovers rocket to test micro-gravity experiments

The VSB 30 V07 took off from the Alcantara base next to the equator

Brazil announced over the weekend it has successfully launched a medium sized rocket developed in the country which included several micro-gravity test instruments all of which were rescued from the sea following an 18 minutes flight.

The VSB-30 V07 rocked developed with Brazilian technology at the Aeronautics and Space Institute (IAE) was launched from Brazil’s Alcantara space launching base, close to the equator, in the state of Maranhao, according to an official report from the Brazilian Air Force.

The rocket took off at 12:35 local time and reached 242 kilometres altitude. Following an 18 minute flight, as was planned the VSB 30 V07 dropped into the Atlantic 145 kilometres from Alcantara. The experiment was tracked all along its flight, points out the release.

“The VSB 30 rocket took into space a capsule with ten different experiments presented by Brazilian universities and other institutions referred to micro-gravity”.

The capsule sea-landed with a parachute and in a combined operation of the Brazilian Air Force and Navy, with all the experiments data and equipment recovered safely.

The rocket has flight autonomy of 250 kilometres and a net payload of 400 kilos.

Colonel Eudy Carvalhaes da Costa e Silva, coordinator of the Maracati II Operation said that most of the experiments are linked to technology and biology and others directly to systems for future space activities.

The micro-gravity environment (for the experiments) was reached once the rocket flew past the 100 kilometres altitude mark.

The previous attempt of a similar experiment was in July 2007 but at the time the capsule was not recovered and the experiments lost at sea.