November 6, 2015 SpaceLoft-10 mission successfully deploys NASA re-entry research capsule

​

(Spaceport America, New Mexico) On November 6, 2015 at 8:01 a.m. MT UP Aerospace launched the 10th SpaceLoft rocket and the 4th mission for NASA’s Flight Opportunities Program. The mission marked the debut of UP Aerospace’s new Automated Payload Deployment System (APDS). At 60 seconds into the flight the system successfully released the nose fairing and ejected the 11 pound re-entry capsule named Maraia that was designed and built by NASA’s Johnson Space Flight Center. Maraia was designed to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere independent of the launch vehicle to test controllability at Mach numbers reaching 3.5. The remainder of the vehicle contained three other experiments by NASA’s AMES Research Center, Purdue University, and New Mexico State University.  The SpaceLoft-10 mission reached an altitude of 396,405 feet on its 18 minute sub-orbital launch into space.  The SpaceLoft-10 vehicle was recovered on White Sands Missile Range for re-use on future missions.  UP Aerospace is currently under contract to perform two additional missions for NASA in 2016.