{"id":10333,"date":"2023-08-25T01:07:23","date_gmt":"2023-08-24T17:07:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/electron-rocket-uses-previously-flown-engine-for-launch-radar-imaging-satellite\/"},"modified":"2023-08-25T01:07:23","modified_gmt":"2023-08-24T17:07:23","slug":"electron-rocket-uses-previously-flown-engine-for-launch-radar-imaging-satellite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/electron-rocket-uses-previously-flown-engine-for-launch-radar-imaging-satellite\/","title":{"rendered":"Electron rocket uses previously-flown engine for launch radar-imaging satellite"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Rocket Lab launched its 40th Electron mission Wednesday, Aug. 23, after a switch to a recoverable rocket, which was fitted for the first time with a previously-flown engine. The rocket lifted off from the company\u2019s privately-owned spaceport on the North Island of New Zealand, carrying a radar-imaging satellite, at 7:45 p.m. EDT (11:45 a.m. NZST on the 24th \/ 2345 UTC).<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_63359\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-63359\" style=\"width: 678px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/20230824-Electron-launch-Feature-Image.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"678\" height=\"381\" class=\"size-full wp-image-63359\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/20230824-Electron-launch-Feature-Image.jpg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/20230824-Electron-launch-Feature-Image-300x169.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 678px) 100vw, 678px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-63359\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A recoverable Electron rocket lifts off from the North Island of New Zealand carrying the Acadia 1 satellite for Capella Space. Image: Rocket Lab.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The surprise move to a recoverable booster came after two launch scrubs blamed on engine sensor glitches. It was the third planned recovery of an Electron booster at sea, after Rocket Lab abandoned plans to catch returning boosters with a helicopter.<\/p>\n<p>One of the rocket\u2019s nine 3D-printed Rutherford engines had previously flew on the first stage of the \u2018There and Back Again\u2019 mission in May 2022. Rocket Lab said the engine worked flawlessly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe data is in, perfect performance from the reused engine and the stage,\u201d said Rocket Lab founder and Chief Executive Peter Beck.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_63360\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-63360\" style=\"width: 678px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/20230824-Electron-1st-stage-Sep.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"678\" height=\"432\" class=\"size-full wp-image-63360\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/20230824-Electron-1st-stage-Sep.jpg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/20230824-Electron-1st-stage-Sep-300x191.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 678px) 100vw, 678px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-63360\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Electron first-stage booster falls away from the second-stage to be begin the recovery phase of its mission. Image: Rocket Lab.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>On Friday, Beck posted an image on Twitter showing the booster being ferried back to sure on the recovery ship. It had splashed down in the Pacific, about 560 km south-east of the launch site.<\/p>\n<p>A recovery vessel, equipped with cranes and platforms to lift the booster out of the sea, was seen in the launch webcast speeding towards the splashdown zone. After retrieving the rocket an important task for the recovery crews was to flush out corrosive salt water.<\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" class=\"\" style=\"position: static; visibility: visible; width: 0px; height: 0px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?dnt=true&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1694824384689525164&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fspaceflightnow.com%2F2023%2F08%2F24%2Felectron-rocket-uses-previously-flown-engine-to-launch-radar-imaging-satellite%2F&amp;sessionId=eb28f25cbaba37040413692163e2b6500fee62f9&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&amp;width=550px\" data-tweet-id=\"1694824384689525164\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\" data-twitter-extracted-i1782462154163995817=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">This reusable thing seems to work\u2026. Going to fly 9 reused engines on an upcoming mission. pic.twitter.com\/y3tfT095rh<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Peter Beck (@Peter_J_Beck) August 24, 2023<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>A single Ruthford vacuum engine on the second-stage and a kick stage with a Curie engine finished Electron\u2019s mission, deploying the Acadia 1 satellite for Earth observation company Capella Space about 58 minutes into the flight. Acadia 1, is the first of four new radar-imaging satellites. The mission is named \u201cWe Love the Nightlife\u201d for the satellite\u2019s ability to make observations day and night.<\/p>\n<p>Capella Space said this next generation of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Earth-imaging satellites is designed to \u201cexpand the existing Capella constellation to provide highest quality imagery, best ground-range resolution, and the fastest order-to-delivery speeds available from any commercial SAR provider.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_62974\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-62974\" style=\"width: 678px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230729-Capella-Space-Acadia.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"678\" height=\"381\" class=\"size-full wp-image-62974\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230729-Capella-Space-Acadia.jpg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230729-Capella-Space-Acadia-300x169.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 678px) 100vw, 678px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-62974\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Artist\u2019s impression of Capella\u2019s Acadia radar-imaging satellite. Image: Capella.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>A different Electron rocket had been poised to launch Acadia 1 on July 30 but there was an abort after engine ignition, just moments before liftoff. A second attempt on August 6 was called off about 15 minutes before the opening of the launch window.<\/p>\n<p>At the time of the first launch attempt, Beck suspected the first abort was caused by \u201ca tricky pressure transducer.\u201d After the second scrub he reported: \u201cStill not happy with one of the engine sensors.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The low ignitor pressure reading on the single engine forced Rocket Lab to return the Electron vehicle to the hangar for further investigation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo keep the mission on schedule, and also expedite Rocket Lab\u2019s reusability efforts, the fairing, with Capella payload integrated within, was swapped onto the next available recovery-configured first stage in Rocket Lab\u2019s production line,\u201d the company said in a press release.<\/p>\n<p>The work certify the engine for re-flight, included multiple full-mission duration hot fires.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe engines we\u2019re bringing back from previous recovery missions are performing exceptionally well through requalification and acceptance testing, so we\u2019re excited to send one on its second trip to space as one of the final steps before reflying an entire first stage,\u201d Beck said in the Rocket Lab statement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rocket Lab launched its 40th Electron mission Wednesday, Aug. 23, after a switch to a recoverable rocket, which was fitted for the first time with a previously-flown engine. The rocket lifted off from the company\u2019s privately-owned spaceport on the North Island of New Zealand, carrying a radar-imaging satellite, at 7:45 p.m. EDT (11:45 a.m. NZST [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10333"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10333"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10333\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}