Development and Qualification of the Solid Propellant Red Kite Sounding Rocket Motor

Red Kite is a commercially available, ITAR-free solid propellant sounding rocket motor in the one-ton propellant class. Bayern-Chemie GmbH was contracted by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in 2020 for the development and manufacturing of the Red Kite rocket motor. After initial design and materials selection phases, ground testing of mechanical, pyrotechnical and electrical subsystems was conducted. Following successful qualification at Esrange Space Center, Sweden, in August 2023, serial production was initiated. In November 2023, motor number one was released for maiden flight from Andøya Space Center, Norway, proving the design with great success. In 2024, two Red Kite Motors were successfully launched from Esrange Space Center as regular first stage motors in the two-stage configurations of the MAPHEUS 14 and MAPHEUS 15 missions. In 2025, the ATHEAt and MAPHEUS 16 missions have been launched successfully by using two stage Red Kite/Back Brant and Red Kite/Red Kite configurations, respectively.