Prior to this failure, in July of 1989, Amroc founder and President George Koopman died tragically in a car accident while driving down the california coastline. The SET-1 vehicle was dubbed the "Koopman Express". Following the failure, American Rocket attempted to regroup and regain financing. It was purchased by investors and the launch vehicle was redesigned and renamed the Aquila. Amroc attempted to develop this vehicle for several years, but in 1995, it finally declared bankruptcy.

Amroc planned two orbital launchers. Aquila-21 would use two H-1800 strapons on one central H-1800 stage , a United Technologies Orbus-21 second stage and an Amroc U-75 rocket in the third stage. An uprated version, the Aquila-31, would use three instead of two strapons H-1800.

The design of the H-1800 had an average vacuum thrust of 1.003 kN, and average vacuum specific impulse of 2724 N*s/kg. The nozzle of the engine, DM-01, is fixed, with thrust vectoring by LOX injection through the side of the silica-phenolic nozzle. Each of the H-1800 motors weighs 36,97 tons fully fueled, with 9,98 tons of HTPB propellant and 22,0 tons of oxygen. The U-75 was a Amroc hybrid design using self-pressurizing pressure-fed nitrous oxide (N2O) as the oxidiser.

Patents Issued to American Rocket Company

	PAT. NO.		Title
1	6,073,437		Stable-combustion oxidizer for hybrid rockets
2	5,794,435		Stable-combustion oxidizer vaporizer for hybrid rockets
3	5,722,232		Hybrid helium heater pressurization system and electrical ignition system for pressure-fed hybrid rockets
4	5,529,648		Heterogeneous fuel for hybrid rocket
5	5,339,625		Hybrid rocket motor solid fuel grain
6	5,119,627		Embedded pressurization system for hybrid rocket motor

Industrial Launch Vehicle (Aquila)

• LEO Payload: 1,818 kg. to 217 km Orbit.
• Liftoff Thrust: 1,135,630 kgf.
• Liftoff Thrust: 11,136.70 kN.
• Total Mass: 591,180 kg.
• Core Diameter: 1.83 m.
• Total Length: 70.00 m.
• Launch Price $: 8.00 million. (1987 US$)

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Amroc ILV Engine Data

SET (Single Engine Test)