Janet V
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Janet V
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| Launch Vehicle | |||||
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| The launch of the Hectate 11 mission on Janet V HJ-506, 2207 | |||||
| National Origin | Central Kafrica | ||||
| Production History | |||||
| Designed | |||||
| 2201 - 2204 | |||||
| Produced | |||||
| 2205 - Ongoing | |||||
| Number Built | 10 | ||||
| Service History | |||||
| In Service | |||||
| 2207 - Ongoing | |||||
| Used By | FASK | ||||
The Janet V is a Kafrican heavy lift launch vehicle developed by FASK under the Hectate Program for Kerbal exploration of the Mun. The rocket has three stages and is rated to carry Kerbals into deep space. Its successfully completed its flight in 2206[1] and has been used for 6 flights as of 2207, three of which have been crewed. It is planned that Central Kafrica will continue to use the Janet V for Munar and Minmus Missions into the early 2210s.
The Janet V is the only Kafrican launch vehicle to have sent Kerbals beyond Low Kerbin Orbit (LKO), it also holds the record for the heaviest Kafrican launch vehicle to date and the most expensive Civilian Federally funded engineering project.
The largest production model of the Janet family of rockets, the Janet V was designed under the direction of Glen Rose at the Aramore Rocketry Center in Aramore, North Grestin. To construct the Janet V, various contractors were employed to deliver the rocket, among which the leading contractors are; KAE, North Grestin Aviation, SMI and Stigma Technologies. So far, Nine flight-capable vehicles have been built with one single structural test article, the Janet V F500.
History
Background
In December 2199, before the turn of the Millennium, the Reguwu Administration issued the Central Kafrican Airforce, the Central Kafrican Navy and the Central Kafrican Army a directive to place a satilite in orbit of Kerbin before the 100th day of 2200. This followed the failure of Forerunner 3 by the Navy in the same final month of the 22nd century.
Under the new Drimp Administration, one of the first acts taken in 2201, an executive order which created the Federal Space Administration of Kafrica, and challenged them to reach the Mun before the end of the 1st decade of the 23rd century. Design contracts were issued to the little known Stigma Technologies, using their classified expertise in spacecraft guidance, navigation and control. Helping the fledgling agency guide their "Mega Mun Rocket" as it was called by the Administration prior to an official project name.
Design Process
The Janet rocket family were named such due to the design similarities with the Jane-C family of rocket, which were used in the early phases of the Kafrican Space Program. Also designed by Glen Rose, the design of the Janet rockets evolved from the Janet I, and the subsequent Janet IB. Studies for interim vehicles to build up experience between the Janet IB and the Janet V, known as Janet II-IV, were approved yet never built nor flown.
On August 23rd, 2202, FASK gave approval for the Janet J-5. The three stage rocket that would consist of the J-IC first stage, with five Z-1 engines; the J-II second stage, affectionately known as "Jill". With 5 K-2 engines; and the J-IVB third stage, using a single K-2 engine. Undergoing component testing on the systems and mechanics of the third stage, using the J-IVB as the second stage as the Janet IB. This demonstrated the concept of using the stage, and that it was structurally feasible. These tests also provided flight data critical to the decision to conduct an "all-up" flight test on the Janet V, meaning that the first flight would include complete versions of all three stages. This would mean that the process of testing the Janet V needed far less time to complete in relation to the initial testing of the Janet I and Janet IB vehicles, which constructed a full vehicle only for the first stage to be active during flight.
Development
Early in the planning process, the unignorable cost and complexity of the vehicle became apparent day by day as hardware contracts were issued for each stage of the vehicle. In order to test this, Glen Rose, who was already working on adapting the Jane-C family into a smaller first stage for the Janet-C1 project, designed to launch a boilerplate Hectate Command Module into LKO for structural validation. He offered to the FASK Administrator, he could design a Janet-C1B rocket variant, using the form factor of his original J-C1. Placing atop it the J-IVB stage for validation of the crucial third stage of Janet-C5, as well as providing data from K-2 engines on the stage for its development.
Flight History
As of 2207, the Janet V has launched nine times, on Hectate 4 and 5, to Hectate 8 onwards. The vehicle has had a 100% success rate during these launches, and launched the Hectate 11 spacecraft in November 2207, the first Kafrican mission to successfully land on, and return from, the Mun.