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INFINITE BLOG | 20 OCTOBER 2024
UNFORTUNATE FATE FOR NAGA
On 18th October 2024, Naga Lander One has an anomaly during the startup sequence of the capture burn. This anomaly resulted in total vehicle loss after a second explosion. ISX’s investigation team was able to identify the most probable cause of the mishap and associated corrective actions to ensure the success of future missions.
Post-flight data reviews confirmed Naga Lander One’s performed nominally through its first trajectory correction burn and second trajectory correction burn. During the third trajectory correction burn of Naga Lander One’s engine, a monomethylhydrazine (MMH) leak developed inside the lander around the engine. The cause of the leak was identified as a crack in a sense line for a pressure sensor attached to the vehicle’s fuel system. This line cracked due to fatigue caused by high loading from engine vibration and looseness in the clamp that normally constrains the line. Despite the leak, the engine continued to operate through the duration of its third trajectory correction burn and completed its engine shutdown, where it entered the coast phase of the mission in the intended transfer orbit.
A capture burn of the engine was planned to circularize the orbit ahead of landing on the surface of Luna. However, the monomethylhydrazine leak on the lander led to the excessive build-up on the engine components, most importantly those associated with the delivery of oxidiser to the engine. As a result, the fuel reacted with nitrogen tetroxide (NTO) a crucial fluid to ignite the fuel also providing oxidizer to the engine, which exploded and damaged the propellant tanks and caused the lander to subsequently lose attitude control. Due to damages to the propellant tanks, a secondary explosion occurred which led to a total loss of the vehicle.
ISX engineering teams have performed a comprehensive review of all Naga Lander in the production line and ground systems to ensure we are putting our best foot forward as we return to the mission in the future. For upcoming Naga Lander missions, the failed sense line and sensor on the lander engine will be removed. The sensor is not used by the flight safety system and can be covered by alternate sensors already present on the engine. The design change has been tested at ISX’s development facility in Normandia, Freidonia Empire, with enhanced qualification analysis and oversight by the ISX investigation team.
Safety and reliability are at the core of ISX’s operations. It would not have been possible to achieve our current cadence without this focus, and thanks to the pace we’ve been able to launch, we’re able to gather unprecedented levels of flight data and are poised to rapidly return to flight cadence, safely and with increased reliability. Our missions are of critical importance – safely carrying customer payloads and hundreds of Proxima satellites to orbit – and they rely on the Eagle family of rockets being one of the most reliable in the world. We thank the CASA and our customers for their ongoing work and support.
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