ILR-33 AMBER

ILR-33 AMBER (Polish: BURSZTYN, lit. 'amber') is a Polish multistage suborbital rocket designed by Warsaw Institute of Aviation – Łukasiewicz Research Network.^[3] The main goal of development of AMBER is gaining experience in building rocket engines and rockets themselves. AMBER can be used in sounding the atmosphere, performing various experiments in microgravity and as a rocket and space technologies testing platform.

ILR-33 AMBER

ILR-33 ready to launch
Function	Atmosphere sounding, conducting experiments in microgravity
Manufacturer	Institute of Aviation, Warsaw
Country of origin	Poland
Size
Height	5 m (16 ft)
Diameter	230 mm (9.1 in)
Mass	160 kg (350 lb) 270 kg (600 lb) (AMBER 2K)[1]
Capacity
Payload to Kármán line
Mass	5 kg (11 lb) 10 kg (22 lb) (AMBER 2K)[1]
Launch history
Total launches	3
First flight	2017
Boosters
No. boosters	2
Powered by	Solid
Burn time	2.6 s[2][1] 6.1 s (AMBER 2K)[1]
Propellant	Solid
stage
Powered by	1 hybrid rocket motor
Burn time	40 s 39 s (AMBER 2K)
Propellant	Polyethylene / hydrogen peroxide

Description

The rocket is 5 meters tall and has a diameter of 230 mm.^[4] It consists of two solid boosters and hybrid main engine. The main engine is a Polish construction which uses highly concentrated hydrogen peroxide as oxidiser. High test peroxide is produced in-house by the Institute of Aviation and has a concentration of 98%, offering increased specific impulse and density in comparison with the more commonly used 85-87.5% peroxide.^[1] AMBER has a reusable head. The recovery of payload is done by pyrotechnical separation from head and deploying drogue and main parachutes. The payload touches down on the ground at a speed of about 8 m/s.^[3][5][6]

ILR-33 AMBER is designed to reach the Kármán line with 10 kilograms of payload. AMBER is a flagship project of Warsaw Institute of Aviation – Łukasiewicz Research Network.^[3]

History

The rocket has been in development since 2014.^[5] The oxidising agent of the main engine is highly concentrated H₂O₂, as researchers from Institute have patented a unique method of obtaining this compound by distillation.^[7] The project was repeatedly awarded: the jury of International Invention and Innovation Show INTARG 2018 gave the platinum medal in category "Industry" and Ministry of Investment and Economic Development diploma.^[8] On Moscow International Salon of Inventions and Innovation Technologies 2019 Łukasiewicz Research Network – Institute of Aviation has received a silver medal for solution: "ILR-33 AMBER rocket as system of inventions and innovative platform to conduct experiments in micro-g environment".

Because of the need to adjust regulations to perform flights of AMBER and similar rockets, the boundaries of air space of CPSP Ustka were extended.^[9]

Since 2019 a new version with higher performance is under development. New version is designated as the ILR-33 BURSZTYN 2K – which is a reference to the Meteor 2K rocket. AMBER 2K will be equipped with enlarged boosters. Mass optimization of subsystems is also taking place. The service module is being prepared to host payloads – atmospheric sounding equipment or experiments using a micro-g environment^[10]

Missions

The first test flight took place in 2017 on Drawsko Military Training Ground^, during which there were basic assumptions, mechanisms and infrastructure of rocket verified in-flight.^[11] The maximum altitude of flight was limited due to restrictions of area where AMBER was tested. Another flight, planned on the end of 2018 was cancelled due to intense jet streams.

The second successful test was in may 2019 in Drawsko Pomorskie. There was modified rocket and new systems tested, i.a. steering module. On 10 September 2019 there was another flight performed to test steering system and the recovery of payload from the surface of the Baltic Sea^[12]

List of ILR-33 AMBER missions:

Flight no.	Date	Site of launch	Apogee	Description	Video of flight	Source
1.	22 October 2017	Drawsko Military Training Ground	15 km	Test flight, verification of proper work of  systems	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dlw61mwYI7E	[11]
2.	September 2018	Air Force Training Centre Ustka	–	Start cancelled due to intense jetstreams		[9]
3.	26 May 2019	Drawsko Military Training Ground	10.5 km	Test flight with steering module	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da02FBrtoM4	[13]
4.	10 September 2019	Air Force Training Centre Ustka	23 km	Test flight, checking performance of steering module, recovery of the head from Baltic Sea		[12]
5.	October 2022	Air Force Training Centre Ustka	8 km	First flight of the rocket in the 2K version	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-i8Xq84bTZs	[14]
6.	3 July 2024	Andøya Space	101 km	2K version. First Polish rocket to reach space.	ILR-33 AMBER 2K reached 101 km! World's first rocket using 98% hydrogen peroxide as oxidizer - YouTube	[15]

See also

• Meteor – series of Polish sounding rockets, built between 1963 and 1974.

References

1. Okninski, Adam; Surmacz, Pawel; Bartkowiak, Bartosz; Mayer, Tobiasz; Sobczak, Kamil; Pakosz, Michal; Kaniewski, Damian; Matyszewski, Jan; Rarata, Grzegorz; Wolanski, Piotr (2021). "Development of Green Storable Hybrid Rocket Propulsion Technology Using 98% Hydrogen Peroxide as Oxidizer". Aerospace. 8 (9): 234. doi:10.3390/aerospace8090234. ISSN 2226-4310.
2. Nowakowski, Pawel; Okninski, Adam; Pakosz, Michal; Cieslinski, Dawid; Bartkowiak, Bartosz; Wolanski, Piotr (September 2017). "Development of small solid rocket boosters for the ILR-33 sounding rocket" (PDF). Acta Astronautica. 138: 374–383. doi:10.1016/j.actaastro.2017.06.007. ISSN 0094-5765.
3. "9. konferencja Development Trends in Space Propulsion Systems". Sieć Badawcza Łukasiewicz – Instytut Lotnictwa (in Polish). 18 November 2015. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
4. Dawid Cieśliński, ILR-33 Bursztyn jako platforma testowa technologii rakietowych, 2018
5. Rakieta Bursztyn na konferencji Development Trends in Space Propulsion Systems, retrieved 23 September 2019
6. Marciniak, Blazej; Okninski, Adam; Bartkowiak, Bartosz; Pakosz, Michal; Sobczak, Kamil; et al. (2018). "Development of the ILR-33 "Amber" sounding rocket for microgravity experimentation". Aerospace Science and Technology. 73: 19–31. Bibcode:2018AeST...73...19M. doi:10.1016/j.ast.2017.11.034. ISSN 1270-9638.
7. "Patenty i wynalazki". Sieć Badawcza Łukasiewicz – Instytut Lotnictwa (in Polish). Archived from the original on 21 August 2019. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
8. "Instytut Lotnictwa doceniony na INTARG 2018. "Bursztyn" z medalem – Space24". space24.pl. 27 June 2018. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
9. "Postępy w projekcie ILR-33 Bursztyn". Sieć Badawcza Łukasiewicz – Instytut Lotnictwa (in Polish). 12 October 2018. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
10. Pakosz, Michał; Noga, Tomasz; Kaniewski, Damian; Okniński, Adam; Bartkowiak, Bartosz (16–20 June 2019). LR-33 AMBER ROCKET – QUICK, LOW COST AND DEDICATED ACCESS TO SUBORBITAL FLIGHTS FOR SMALL EXPERIMENTS. 24th ESA Symposium on European Rocket and Balloon Programmes and Related Research. Essen.
11. "Rakieta ILR-33 "Bursztyn"". Kosmonauta.net (in Polish). 14 December 2017. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
12. "Lot rakiety ILR-33 BURSZTYN na centralnym poligonie Sił Powietrznych w Ustce". Sieć Badawcza Łukasiewicz – Instytut Lotnictwa (in Polish). 13 September 2019. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
13. "Drugi lot rakiety ILR-33 BURSZTYN". Sieć Badawcza Łukasiewicz – Instytut Lotnictwa (in Polish). 29 May 2019. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
14. "First flight of the 2K version of the AMBER suborbital rocket and the WR-2 mobile rocket launch pad".
15. Joanna Pieniążek (5 July 2024). "Historyczne osiągnięcie polskich inżynierów – polska rakieta suborbitalna ILR-33 BURSZTYN 2K sięgnęła kosmosu". Sieć Badawcza Łukasiewicz - Instytut Lotnictwa (in Polish).