Karman Space Programme
Supporting student engineering team, Karman Space Programme, to ship their latest rocket from the UK to the US.
Karman Space Programme (KSP) was founded in 2021 by four engineering students at Imperial College London with the objective of making life on earth better through space. To reach space sustainability, the team is in the midst of developing four reusable space rockets known as the NOVA series: Nebula, Orion, Vega and Aurora rockets.
On September 24, 2023, KSP launched Orion in a two-stage rocket launch to test systems for reuse and recovery of the rocket. This test was a crucial step towards low-cost, sustainable access to space.
The Challenge
Due to rocket launching rules being less stringent in the U.S. than the U.K., the launch was to take place in Mojave, California. KSP Mission Control would remain in the U.K., however the rocket needed to be transported to the launch site in California. A skilled logistics team was required to transport this delicate item across the globe.
The Solution
To ensure the careful handling of this high-value delivery, KSP turned to SEKO Logistics' White Glove service for their transportation needs. SEKO collected the shipment from Imperial College London and delivered it to its warehouse in Farnborough for professional packing to ensure the rocket structure would arrive at its destination safe and intact. Then SEKO's preferred trusted carrier booked the shipment and exported it to the U.S. The shipment arrived on time and SEKO U.S. Customs Brokerage cleared the shipment and securely delivered it to the KSP launch site.
Benefits of the SEKO Solution
- Providing full visibility of all deliveries
- Ensuring the careful handling of highly-sensitive equipment
- Facilitating global experiences
- Providing a seamless end-to-end solution
- Supporting innovation of new products
The Result
The partnership between KSP and SEKO enabled Orion arriving at the launch site in California intact and on time. This would not have been possible without SEKO's White Glove service and well equipped global network. While Orion launched off the pad successfully, an unforeseen issue meant the second stage did not ignite as expected. The KSP team is currently waiting to receive the Orion flight data to determine the exact point of failure. There will be many exciting and important learnings taken from the launch of Orion that will be applied to their next launch of the Vega rocket, which will use a liquid engine.