Rocket Lab has launched two satellites for BlackSky on the 25th flight of its Electron rocket. The mission lifted off from Launch Complex-1A (LC-1A) at Rocket Lab’s launch site on the Mahia peninsula in New Zealand at 12:41 UTC on Saturday (1:41 AM local time on Saturday).
California-based Rocket Lab has begun a tradition of giving each of its Electron missions a nickname. In accordance with this, Saturday’s launch is named “Without Mission a Beat.”
The flight launches a pair of high-resolution imaging satellites for BlackSky. These are the 16 and 17 Block 2 satellites to be launched as part of BlackSky’s operational constellation. Each satellite carries a panchromatic optical imaging payload.
Saturday’s launch is the seventh mission that Rocket Lab has carried out for BlackSky, and their fourth dedicated launch with two satellites for the company. Two BlackSky satellites were lost in 2021 when Electron flight 20, “Running out of Toes,” failed to reach orbit.
“Without Mission a Beat” was originally scheduled to be Rocket Lab’s first launch in 2022; however, in January, Rocket Lab announced a delay to the launch to “accommodate shifts in customer timelines.” The delay allowed Rocket Lab to move forward with the launch of Synspective’s StriX-β, a mission dubbed “The Owl’s Night Continues” which was conducted successfully at the end of February.
Electron was developed by Rocket Lab to serve the small satellite launch market. The vehicle has a monocoque structure built out of carbon fiber composite. It measures 18 meters in length with a diameter of 1.2 meters.
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The first stage of Electron is powered by nine Rutherford engines, named after New Zealand-born scientist Ernest Rutherford. The second stage is powered by a single vacuum-optimized Rutherford engine burning RP-1 kerosene and liquid oxygen (LOX).
Rutherford employs an electric pump-fed cycle and was the first such engine to fly on an orbital launch vehicle.
Electron launched for the first time on May 25, 2017, with the “It’s a Test” mission, flown from Launch Complex 1A. Although the first flight failed to reach orbit, a second flight, “Still Testing,” was completed successfully on January 21, 2018. Prior to Saturday’s launch, Electron has launched 24 times, with 21 successful missions.
The Mahia launch site is located on the north island of New Zealand. It has two launch pads: LC-1A, which will be used for Saturday’s launch, and LC-1B.
LC-1B was used for the first time in February on Rocket Lab’s most recent launch, “The Owl’s Night Continues.”
The two launch pads at Rocket Lab’s Mahia launch site (Credit: Rocket Lab)
A third launch pad, Launch Complex 2 (LC-2), is located in the United States at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) on Wallops Island, Virginia. LC-2 has yet to host an Electron launch, with its first mission expected later this year.
Rocket Lab is currently working towards making the first stage of the Electron rocket reusable. While no recovery will be attempted during Saturday’s launch, the company has been making progress towards its first airborne recovery attempt, which will use a helicopter to catch the booster as it descends under parachute.
Rocket Lab’s first successful booster recovery came during Electron’s 16th flight, “Return to Sender,” when the rocket’s first stage was recovered after making a soft splashdown in the ocean.
These efforts are helping Rocket Lab gain knowledge and experience as it designs its next-generation launch vehicle, Neutron, which is intended to be fully reusable. Neutron is expected to make its launch from Wallops Island no earlier than 2024.
Launch day activities for “Without Mission a Beat” began at T-6 hours when the road to the launch site on the Mahia peninsula was closed. The Electron rocket was then raised into the vertical orientation on LC-1A, with loading of RP-1 propellant beginning approximately four hours prior to liftoff.
Electron’s nine Rutherford engines are seen during the ElaNa XIX launch. (Credit: Brady Kenniston for NSF/L2)
At T-2 hours and 30 minutes, Rocket Lab site personnel left the pad for the safe locations where they will remain until after launch. The launch vehicle’s oxidizer tanks were then filled with LOX, beginning at the T-2 hour mark.
At the same point in the countdown, marine safety zones were activated to ensure ships do not enter hazard areas around the launch site and further downrange. Other safety zones, including airspace restrictions, were activated 30 minutes prior to launch.
Launch controllers in Rocket Lab’s mission control center, located in Auckland, conducted a Go/No Go poll to proceed with the launch at the T-18 minute mark in the countdown.
The next major milestone in the countdown was the start of the launch autosequence two minutes prior to liftoff. When this event occurs, the onboard computers on Electron take control of the launch sequence.
At T-2 seconds, the nine Rutherford engines on Electron’s first stage ignited. This was followed by liftoff from LC-1A at T0. After launch, Electron rolled to the proper launch azimuth to take the vehicle and its payloads to the desired orbital inclination. Electron traveled to the southeast as it heads downrange from the Mahia peninsula.
At T+2 minutes and 29 seconds, the first stage engines shut down, a milestone in the launch known as main engine cut-off (MECO). Three seconds later, the first and second stages separate, with a pneumatic pusher driving them apart.
Engineers pose next to Electron’s payload fairing, containing the BlackSky satellites. (Credit: Rocket Lab)
Two minutes and 36 seconds after liftoff, the single vacuum-optimized Rutherford engine on the second stage ignites. Shortly afterward, at the three-minute, 11-second mark in the mission, the rocket’s payload fairing separates. Located at the nose of the second stage, the fairing protects the satellites during the early stages of flight. The fairing separation system includes a pneumatic unlocking system that separates the fairing into two halves and springs that will push the two fairing halves away from the rocket.
Electron conducts its battery hot-swap at T+6 minutes 55 seconds. By this point in the flight, two of the batteries that power the second stage engine’s electric fuel pumps will have been depleted and will separate from the bottom of the second stage. A third battery onboard the stage continues to provide power for the rest of the mission.
Electron reached orbit nine minutes and 37 seconds after launch, shutting down its second stage engine. Eight seconds later, the kick stage separated from the second stage. This was responsible for inserting the BlackSky satellites into their planned orbit.
Following separation, the kick stage entered into a coast period until the ignition of its single Curie engine at T+51 minutes and 10 seconds. This burned for one minute and 42 seconds. Around an hour after lifting off from LC-1A, both BlackSky satellites separated from the kick stage to begin their missions.
(Featured image: The Electron rocket for “Without Mission A Beat” completes a wet dress rehearsal prior to launch. Credit: Rocket Lab)
