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The VS-40 (Foguete Suborbital VS-40) is a Brazilian sounding rocket using solid fuel and stabilized aerodynamically.

The original version, VS-40, uses the S-40TM (4,200 kg) first stage engine and the S-44M (810 kg) second stage engine.[2][3][4] This configuration corresponds to the upper stages of the VLS-1 rocket.[5]

Version VS-40M used a S-40M engine for the first stage.[4]

Flights

VS40 performed the following flights:[4][6][7][8][9][10][1][11]

Date Version Flight Site Mission
1993/04/02 VS-40 V01 Alcântara Operação Santa Maria – Qualifying flight for the S44 engine. 760 seconds in micro-gravity.[4]
1998/03/21 VS-40 V02 Alcântara Operação Livramento – VAP-1 (Fokker) payload.[12]
2012/06/22 VS-40M V03 Andøya SHEFEX (Sharp Edge Flight Experiment) II payload.[9][10]
2015/11/13 VS-40M Alcântara Operação São Lourenço – SARA Suborbital 1 (reentry experiment) – Failure (exploded on pad) [6][7][8][1][12]

A flight of VS-40M carrying “SARA Suborbital 2″ was planned but eventually cancelled. A future flight of VS-40M carrying HIFiRE 8 is in development.[4]

Characteristics

VS-40
  • Length (mm) 6725
  • Payload Mass (kg) 500
  • Diameter (mm) 1000
  • Total takeoff mass (kg) 6,737
  • Mass of propellant (kg) 5,054
  • Structural mass (kg) 1,028
  • Apogee (km) 650
  • Microgravity time (s) 760

S-40 rocket engine

The S-40 is a solid-propellant rocket motor developed and manufactured by Avibras Aeroespacial, a Brazilian aerospace company, primarily for use in sounding rockets. Different versions were used on several rockets:[4]

  • S-40 – first stage of Sonda IV
  • S-40TM – first stage of VS-40; third stage of VLS-1[5][13]
  • S-40M – first stage of VS-40M; second stage of VLM

S-40TM specifications

Source:[13]

  • Total mass: 5664 kg
  • Unfueled mass: 1212kg
  • Thrust: 208.39 kN
  • SI: 275 seconds
  • Burn time: 56 s

S-44 rocket engine

The S-44 is a solid-propellant rocket motor developed by the Instituto de Aeronáutica e Espaço (IAE), part of Brazil’s Departamento de Ciência e Tecnologia Aeroespacial (DCTA).[14] It was used as second stage of VS-40 and VS-40M; the third stage of VLM and the fourth stage of VLS-1.[4]

S-44 specifications

Source:[14]

  • Total mass: 1025 kg
  • Unfueled mass: 190 kg
  • Thrust: 33.24 kN
  • SI: 282 seconds
  • Burn time: 68 s

References

  1. ^ a b c Brasileira, Força Aérea. “Projeto SARA continua, afirma Diretor de Ciência e Tecnologia Aeroespacial”. Força Aérea Brasileira.
  2. ^ “O Foguete de sondagem VS-40”. www.iae.cta.br. 2011. Archived from the original on 14 December 2011.
  3. ^ “VS-40”. www.astronautix.com. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g “S-40 Family”. space.skyrocket.de.
  5. ^ a b “VS-40 – IAE”. iae.dcta.mil.br. Retrieved 2023-12-03.
  6. ^ a b “Projeto SARA”. www.iae.cta.br. 2011. Archived from the original on 14 December 2011.
  7. ^ a b “ANÁLISE DA ESTRUTURA INTERNA DO MÓDULO DE EXPERIMENTOS DO SARA SUBORBITAL” (PDF). www.inicepg.univap.br. 2008. Retrieved 2019-06-12.
  8. ^ a b “Alcântara sedia encontro que discute atividade espacial no País”. Governo do Brasil.
  9. ^ a b “Sounding Rocket Campaigns « Andøya Rocket Range”. Archived from the original on 2012-06-26. Retrieved 2012-06-26.
  10. ^ a b [1][dead link]
  11. ^ “VS-40 – IAE”. iae.dcta.mil.br. Retrieved 2023-12-03.
  12. ^ a b Fan, Ricardo (2015-11-13). “FAB lança foguete VS-40 nesta sexta-feira”. DefesaNet (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-12-03.
  13. ^ a b “S-40TM”. www.astronautix.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2025-07-16.
  14. ^ a b “S-44”. www.astronautix.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-08. Retrieved 2025-07-16.