Vanguard - friznit/Unofficial-BDB-Wiki GitHub Wiki

Background

Vanguard (BDB Viklun) rockets were used by Project Vanguard from 1957 to 1959. Of the eleven Vanguard rockets which the project attempted to launch, three successfully placed satellites into orbit. Vanguard TV-4 and its third stage remain in orbit as the oldest man-made artefacts in space. Vanguard SLV-4 successfully launched the first weather satellite, Vanguard 2 (BDB Easton-V2 "Narly" Probe), in 1959.

Tags: Viklun

Variants

Launch Vehicle	First Stage	Second Stage	Third Stage
Vanguard TV-3	Easton-50	JA10	Staara-20-II-A SRM (33-KS-2800 Config)
Vanguard TV-4	Easton-50	JA10	Staara-20
Vanguard SLV-4	Easton-50	JA10	Staara-20
Vanguard SLV-7	Easton-50	JA10	Staara-20 (X-248 Config)

Basic Build Guide

SLV-7 with its Vanguard 3 satellite payload on top of a Star 20 Solid Rocket Motor (SRM). BDB rocket engines typically do not have shrouds like stock parts but instead use separate interstages which double as a shroud and decoupler. These interstages usually attach to a hidden node in the fuel tank or engine mounting plate, and are often configurable with part switches for size or colour scheme.

The Spin Motor Decoupler below the Star-20 "kick motor" is staged at the same time as the two retro motors, pushing the upper stage away and spin stabilising the payload before the SRM is fired. A yo-yo despin device is then used to slow the spin again after kick motor burn out.