[freebeard]

Made me look.

June, 2024:
www.arcaspace.com/post/ecorocket-nano-a-state-of-the-art-civilian-version-of-the-military-cer-160tr-rocket

Photo: The CER-160TR artillery target rocket during the Mission 17 test launch from Cape Midia Air Force Base, in June 2024.
EcoRocket Nano for Mission 15 is based on this 160mm caliber military rocket.

Jun 6, 2023:
medium.com/ami-exploration/yes-otrag-influenced-the-ecorocket-heavy-design-ami-part-xxi-903a1849319d

I need to admit that when I started to design and build rockets, in 1998, 15 years after that article in Modelism, I thought about OTRAG, and I decided to implement their philosophy in ARCA’s first rocket, Demonstrator 1. It never flew, but it was the basis for the successful Demonstrator 2B that was launched in 2004 from the Cape Midia Air Force Base, on the Black Sea shore. These two rockets were built in a backyard by only three people with a microscopic budget in the range of $30,000. After that, I departed from that successful design and focused on much more complex designs that weren’t that successful. Then, for the EcoRocket, 20 years later, after having tried various other options to create the ideal cost-effective rocket, I returned to the basics with the EcoRocket and then EcoRocket Heavy designs. The OTRAG program didn’t provide just inspiration for the design approach, but it also helped me learn about political influences, what mistakes they did, and what is there to learn from it.

Eyes on the prize:

https://medium.com › ami-exploration › arcas-ami-asteroid-mining-program-part-i-825bf51a0eae
ARCA's Asteroid Mining Program, an Overview — AMi, Part I
Apr 14, 2023The AMi Exploration Program's first asteroid mining mission will aim to return 1,000 kg of platinum. At current prices of around $34,000 per kilogram, that payload would convert into $34,000,000.

Possibly related: www.nasdaq.com/articles/rtx-airbus-join-develop-hybrid-electric-system-pioneerlab-helicopter-demonstrator

RTX Corp. (RTX) announced Monday that its businesses, Pratt & Whitney Canada and Collins Aerospace, have been selected by Airbus Helicopters, of aerospace major Airbus SE (EADSY.PK), to support the development of a hybrid-electric propulsion system for its PioneerLab technology demonstrator.

Test flights of the hybrid-electric propulsion system are targeted to begin in 2027 at Airbus Helicopters' site in Donauwörth, Germany.