Kestrel 5Company A · Launch · Mission K5-07

Two stages, 5 engines, booster landsRocket equation, simplified flightFictional rocket

Mission time

T− 00:10Before lift-off

Altitude

0.0kmSecond stage

Speed

0km/hAlong the flight path

Acceleration

1.0gWhat the payload feels

Air pressure on the rocket

0.0kPaPeak 31.9 kPa at T+ 01:12

Downrange

0kmDistance flown over the ground

T− 00:10Mission planning

Telemetry

Altitude and speed

Flight events

Planned

First stage fuel100%

Second stage fuel100%

T− 00:10Terminal count, the flight computer takes over
T+ 00:00Lift-off, 5 engines at full thrust
T+ 01:12Max-Q, 32 kPa on the airframe
T+ 02:12Main engine cut-off at 51 km
T+ 02:15Stage separation
T+ 02:20Second stage ignition
T+ 03:05Fairing separation at 111 km
T+ 06:58Second engine cut-off, in orbit at 550 km
T+ 07:43Payload deployed
T+ 08:23Booster lands back at the pad

Flight dynamics note

Drafted from the data

Kestrel 5 has 9.66 km/s of velocity change with 6.5 t on top and the booster keeping 16% of its fuel to land. 550 km launched near the equator needs 9.22 km/s.
That leaves 433 m/s to spare, and 1.6 t of fuel in the second stage after cut-off.
The most it can lift to 550 km from here is 8.3 t. Landing on a ship instead would add 2.3 t.
Launching east near the equator, Earth's spin adds 463 m/s. A sun-synchronous orbit from Andøya would cost about 520 m/s more.

Kestrel 5 and Company A are made up. Performance uses the rocket equation for each stage with 1.7 km/s lost to gravity and air, Earth’s spin at the launch site and a fuel reserve for landing the booster. The flight profile is shaped to match, with the engines throttled to keep the air pressure under 32 kPa. The 3D rocket is the one from our about page. Spacecountdown or hold · Ffull screen · drag the rocket to turn it · built with Claude Code