Stardust 1.0: Daily Current Affairs
- On the 31st of January, from a former military base in the US, Stardust 1.0 was launched.
- This launch makes it special as it is the first commercial space launch powered by biofuel.
- It is totally is non-toxic for the environment as opposed to traditionally used rocket fuels.
- Stardust 1.0 is a launch vehicle. This rocket is 20 feet tall and roughly weighs 250kgs. Rocket can carry a maximum payload of 8kgs.
- In its initial launch, it carried three payloads. This rocket was launched recently from Loring Commerce Centre in Maine, the US, which was also a former military base.
- Stardust1.0 is suitable for students and budget payloads.
- The payloads included a CubeSat prototype built by high school students, a metal alloy designed to lessen vibrations, which is developed by Kellogg’s Research Labs, and a CubeSat from software company Rocket Insights.
- Stardust1.0 rocket has been manufactured by bluShift. It is an aerospace company that is based in Maine.
- The company is developing rockets powered by biofuel.
- The work of developing Stardust 1.0 is in process since 2014 at the time when the company was founded by Sascha Deri.
- Stardust1.0 rockets will be of help in launching small satellites that are called CubeSat.
- It will be in a way that will be a cheaper alternative to the traditional rocket fuel and it is also less toxic for the environment.
- The company has also developed some other rockets which include StardustGen. 2, Starless Rouge and Red Dwarf, which is a low-Earth orbit (LEO) vehicle and is designed to fly a maximum payload of 30 kg.
- In order to make access to space easier many companies are also trying and putting their efforts into developing easier and cheap alternatives.
- The companies are trying to come up with alternatives that can make access to space cost-effective for the purpose of academic research, corporate technology development among others.
- One of the companies on the list is called Blue Origin.
- This company is of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’s Space Company.
- Last year in October, the company tested a rocket system called New Shephard.
- The rocket system is designed to take tourists to space eventually and offers flights to space over 100 km above Earth and accommodation for payloads.
- Another company founded by British entrepreneur Richard Branson called Virgin Galactic signed a Space Act Agreement with NASA’s Johnson Space Center in June 2020 to encourage commercial participation in orbital human spaceflight to the International Space Station (ISS) and help in the development of a Low Earth Orbit economy.
- Biofuel is obtained from biomass. It can be converted directly into liquid fuels that can be used as transportation fuels.
- According to the US government’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, the two most common kinds of biofuels in use today are ethanol and biodiesel.
- They both represent the first generation of biofuel technology.
- Ethanol is renewable and made from different kinds of plant materials.
- On the other hand, biodiesel is produced by combining alcohol with new and used vegetable oils, animal fats, or recycled cooking grease.