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Gauchito
Part of X-Prize
Argentinian manned spacecraft. Study 2004. X-Prize suborbital ballistic spacecraft concept of Pablo De Leon of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Reached the stage of engineering tests by 2003.

Status: Study 2004.

Gauchito (Little Cowboy) was a concept of Pablo De Leon and Associates of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The vehicle would use a hybrid rocket powered vertical takeoff and parachute descent on water landing. Pablo de Leon was an experienced aerospace engineer, co-founder and president of the Argentine Association for Space Technology (AATE), and a graduate of the International Space University. The Gauchito was a clustered design made up of four hybrid engines producing a maximum acceleration of 3.5 G. The engines would burn until the vehicle reached an altitude of 34 km, followed by a coast to 120 km. After five minutes of weightlessness, the pilot was to orient the thermal shield for re-entry. The vehicle was recovered via parachute. De Leon flew a subscale test capsule to 30 km and conducted one-third scale rocket test firings. Testing of flight suits and other critical systems were conducted in May 2003 and a half-scale flight test of the Gauchito vehicle was conducted in June 2003.



Family: Manned spacecraft, Suborbital. Country: Argentina. Agency: Pablo De Leon.

2001 March 1 - .
2002 May 1 - .
2003 May 16 - .
2003 June 11 - .

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