Nick met the team behind the Suborbitals, at their warehouse in Copenhagen, where they are working on their next mission: Putting a human into space by 2030.
“We have engineers, metal workers, electronics guys, software guys – all sorts of skills,” their projects rely on crowdfunding, and their next rocket, Nexø II, is a mix of pre-existing components, repurposed for space travel.
This 6.7-metre-tall rocket, weighing 178 kilograms, will be fired 12.6 kilometres into the air, then float back down to Earth with a parachute. The computer used in the engine control system once was cashier’s terminal from a Burger King; the pressure regulation system is based on a scuba diving funnel; a previous rocket used a brake cable from a Fiat car to synchronise the opening of crucial valves. All driven by their love for space.
The story was commissioned by WIRED UK, published in their May/June 2018 Issue.
See the online story here.