Have the ability to deliver more than 200 kilograms of cargo anywhere in the world in less than an hour It is something that seems like science fiction, but the growth that the aerospace industry is experiencing in recent years can make it possible. That is the idea that the space company has Investmentwho presented this week in Los Angeles his new ‘on demand’ delivery vehicle.
Investment assures that it is building the spaceship Arc to offer to US Army the ability to transport up to 225 kilograms of supplies to any place in the world almost instantly. To achieve that speed, Arc must already be positioned in orbit and remain there until required.
‘The nominal mission for us consists of preposition Arc ships in orbit and keep them there for up to five years, ready to be activated and then descend autonomously to land where and when needed, taking your cargo or effects to the desired location in less than an hour‘, he declared to the media Justin Fiaschettico-founder and CEO of Inversion.
The company, which has already put one of its ships into orbit, was born in 2021. It was founded by Fiaschetti and Austin Briggs after leaving Boston University. Fiaschetti had done an internship in SpaceX and Relativity Spacewhere he worked in propulsion.
‘It’s fun to talk about space as a destination, and people did it then. But the true economic value of space is access to the worldand we realized we could do it with physical load, not just data. That’s why we founded Inversion, to build reentry vehicles capable of doing so‘, explains Fiaschetti.
The company’s first spacecraft has been Raylaunched last January as a technology demonstration with the mission Transporter-12 from SpaceX. The initial plan was to fly in space using Inversion’s internal subsystems and then ignite its bipropellant rocket engine, perform a reentry maneuver and land off the coast of California.
According to Fiaschetti, the Ray, which has a mass of more than 90 kilosit worked well. It proved capable of raising and lowering its orbit, continues to generate power and communicate with flight controllers, but it will not make a controlled landing. ‘Ray won’t be back. We are doing long-term software testing in orbit,’ explains Fiaschetti.
Although Ray has not returned to land, the company is confident that the larger Arc will. The company says it has already built a ‘primary structure full-scale manufacturing development unit’ for the first Arc vehicle.
Arc is a type ship supporting body and will perform most of its maneuvers in the atmosphere, where it has a traverse range of 1,000 km during reentry. It will land with a parachute and, therefore, will not need a runway. Because the propulsion system uses non-toxic materials, a soldier will be able to approach the ship immediately after landing without the need for protective equipment.
‘With massive range to cover great distances during re-entry and high maneuverability in every phase of flight, Arc offers unprecedented transport capability. We see a future where thousands of Arc spacecraft will form a logistics network that will provide transformative reach, resilience and deterrence for the United States and its allies.‘, says Fiaschetti.