{"id":12130,"date":"2020-11-06T00:39:18","date_gmt":"2020-11-05T16:39:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/rocket-lab-to-attempt-booster-recovery-on-next-mission\/"},"modified":"2020-11-06T00:39:18","modified_gmt":"2020-11-05T16:39:18","slug":"rocket-lab-to-attempt-booster-recovery-on-next-mission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/rocket-lab-to-attempt-booster-recovery-on-next-mission\/","title":{"rendered":"Rocket Lab to attempt booster recovery on next mission"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
File photo of an Electron rocket launching on a previous mission. Credit: Rocket Lab \/ Andrew Burns \/ Simon Moffatt<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On its next mission set for liftoff later this month, Rocket Lab will try to recover the first stage of its Electron small satellite launcher after parachuting into the Pacific Ocean downrange from the company\u2019s privately-run spaceport in New Zealand, officials announced Thursday.<\/p>\n

The attempt to retrieve the Electron rocket\u2019s first stage moves Rocket Lab closer to eventually capturing falling boosters in mid-air with a helicopter, then reusing the hardware. The reuse initiative is aimed at increasing Rocket Lab\u2019s flight rate, and could result in cost savings, according to Peter Beck, the company\u2019s founder and CEO.<\/p>\n

Rocket Lab, a California-based launch company, initially planned to try to recover an Electron booster for the first time on its 17th mission. It\u2019s now planning to attempt the feat on the company\u2019s next launch \u2014 the 16th flight of an Electron rocket since it debuted in 2017.<\/p>\n

Engineers have completed a series of tests since last year, first demonstrating the carbon composite Electron booster can withstand the heating and structural loads of re-entering the atmosphere. Rocket Lab performed the re-entry experiment on two Electron flights in December 2019 and January 2020.<\/p>\n

Then the company earlier this year tested the ability of a helicopter to snag a mock-up of an Electron first stage in mid-air. Since then, Rocket Lab completed a series of drop tests of the booster\u2019s parachute system, which Beck said the company developed in-house.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not very often in the space industry you pull something forward, but this mission we are,\u201d Beck said. \u201cThis is a huge milestone mission for us. This is the first time we\u2019re actually going to do everything but capture it under a helicopter. So we will once again re-enter the stage \u2014 re-orientate it first \u2014 and then re-enter it while maintaining the re-entry corridor.\u201d<\/p>\n

After plunging into the thick, lower layers of the atmosphere \u2014 \u201chitting the wall,\u201d as Beck calls it \u2014 the booster will deploy a pilot parachute, a drogue chute, and then a circular main chute. The rocket\u2019s parachutes will \u201chopefully bring it under a nice stable descent descent and splash it down into the ocean,\u201d Beck said.<\/p>\n

Recovery vessels stationed near the booster\u2019s splashdown zone around 250 miles (400 kilometers) south of the launch site will move in to secure the first stage and hoist it onto a ship for return to New Zealand.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is kind of an all-up combined test at the conclusion of a number of tests we\u2019ve been going over the last 12 months,\u201d Beck said. \u201cSo we\u2019ll look forward to seeing what we\u2019ve really got.\u201d<\/p>\n

All of the system tests and sub-scale demonstrations so far have showed Rocket Lab is on track to recover the rocket, Beck said. But this will be the first time engineers put all the systems together on a single test, and then fly the rocket through the atmosphere at hypersonic speed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll stop being nervous once we get it back in the factory, but until then I think there\u2019s just a lot that has to work,\u201d Beck said in a conference will with reporters.<\/p>\n

The first opportunity to launch the mission \u2014 which Rocket Lab has nicknamed \u201cReturn to Sender\u201d \u2014 will be Nov. 15, U.S. time. There\u2019s a 14-day launch period available for the flight, with the 2-hour, 50-minute window Nov. 15 opening at 8:44 p.m. EST (0144 GMT; 2:44 p.m. New Zealand time on Nov. 16).<\/p>\n

The Electron rocket will blast off from Launch Complex 1 at Rocket Lab\u2019s privately-owned spaceport on Mahia Peninsula, located on the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand.<\/p>\n

The mission\u2019s primary goal is to carry 30 small satellites into a 310-mile-high (500-kilometer) sun-synchronous orbit.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The mission profile for Rocket Lab\u2019s next flight, which will feature the company\u2019s first attempt to recover the Electron rocket\u2019s first stage intact. Credit: Rocket Lab<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The nearly 60-foot-tall (18-meter) Electron rocket is sized to carry small payloads into orbit. The kerosene-fueled rocket can deliver about 440 pounds, or 200 kilograms, of payload mass into a 310-mile-high sun-synchronous polar orbit.<\/p>\n

The Electron rocket\u2019s nine Rutherford first stage engines will propel the launcher to an altitude of roughly 250,000 feet, or 80 kilometers, in the first two-and-a-half minutes of the flight. Then the Rutherford main engines shut down and the first stage separates, allowing a single engine on the Electron\u2019s second stage to continue the journey into orbit.<\/p>\n

After separation, the 40-foot-long (12-meter) first stage will fire control thrusters to flip the booster 180 degrees, putting the rocket in the correct orientation for re-entry.<\/p>\n

Aerodynamic drag from the re-entry will slow the rocket\u2019s velocity from about eight-and-a-half times the speed of sound to just below the speed of sound, then the booster will commence the parachute deployment sequence. The rockets flown during the re-entry experiments in late 2019 and early 2020 did not carry chutes.<\/p>\n

\u201cRecovery systems, parachutes, are now trivial things to get right,\u201d Beck said. \u201cSo whenever you throw out a pierce of fabric just slightly under the speed of sound, it\u2019s alway a little bit interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n

If it all works as designed, the rocket will splash down in the Pacific Ocean at a velocity of about 10 meters per second, or about 22 mph. \u201cWe don\u2019t expect significant damage from splashdown with the ocean, other than everything getting wet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rocket Lab\u2019s team will place flotation aids around the booster, then install a collar before it is lifted by crane onto the recovery ship.<\/p>\n

Engineers are eager to inspect the rocket once it\u2019s back in Rocket Lab\u2019s factory.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce we get it back into the factory, it\u2019s like a CSI really,\u201d Beck said. \u201cWe\u2019ll pull it all apart and really dig into how well each of the components and the sub-assemblies performed. It\u2019ll be a very time-consuming process to go back and see what we\u2019ve got.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beck said the company is taking an incremental approach to proving out its ability to recover and reuse Electron rocket boosters. Engineers want to see how well the booster survives re-entry, and it\u2019s likely Rocket Lab will try several water splashdowns before attempting a mid-air recovery for the first time.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we\u2019ve got a smoldering stump, then there\u2019s really not much point in catching a smoldering stump with a helicopter,\u201d Beck said.<\/p>\n

Catching the rocket in mid-air will prevent sensitive engine components and other hardware from being contaminated by salty sea water, easing refurbishment between missions, according to Rocket Lab.<\/p>\n

In preparation for recovering and reusing hardware, Rocket Lab has modified the Electron booster stage to carry guidance and navigation equipment, an independent S-band telemetry system, an on-board flight computer, a heat shield, and parachutes.<\/p>\n

The main goal of the reuse program is to increase Rocket Lab\u2019s launch rate.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe strongest driver is being able to not have to re-build rockets (for every mission), so being able to increase production rate is really the key driver, even if it\u2019s economically neutral,\u201d Beck said. \u201cThe fact that we don\u2019t have to build more vehicles in the same factory is a really big advantage. If we can get it back in wonderful condition, then of course, economically it\u2019s very powerful.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you can successfully bring back a first stage and do no to even minimal refurbishment, then you can actually realize a good savings,\u201d Beck said. \u201cWe\u2019re a conservative bunch, so we think \u2014 at least for a while \u2014 there\u2019s going to be some pretty heavy refurbishment and recertification until we get enough confidence and statistics to put something back on the pad with minimal work.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve probably seen the same thing with SpaceX,\u201d Beck said. \u201cAs they\u2019ve matured their recovery systems, they\u2019ve tended to do less and less refurbishment as time goes on.\u201d<\/p>\n

SpaceX pioneered rocket reuse in the commercial launch industry, but Rocket Lab is taking a different engineering approach.<\/p>\n

The Falcon 9 rocket operated by SpaceX is much larger than Rocket Lab\u2019s Electron vehicle, with enough performance margin for engineers to reserve propellant for propulsive landing maneuvers during mid-air restarts of the Falcon 9\u2019s main engines.<\/p>\n

That won\u2019t work for smaller satellite launchers like the Electron, which needs all of its propellant to place payloads into orbit.<\/p>\n

Beck said the addition of recovery hardware takes away about 7.5% of the Electron rocket\u2019s overall launch capacity to sun-synchronous orbit. SpaceX takes a bigger performance hit by percentage when it lands a Falcon 9 booster.<\/p>\n

SpaceX initially tried using parachutes to recover its Falcon 1 and Falcon 9 boosters, but those attempts didn\u2019t work. The company eventually switched to a design for vertical landings of the Falcon boosters on floating ships in the ocean, or at an onshore landing site near the launch pad.<\/p>\n

Although Beck said it\u2019s not Rocket Lab\u2019s short-term goal, reusing rockets can allow companies to slash launch prices. Rocket Lab has already cut the price for a dedicated small launch vehicle.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve seen the cost of dedicated small launch come from anywhere from $50 million to $30 million for a Pegasus or a Minotaur (rocket) down to $7 million for a Rocket Lab vehicle,\u201d Beck said.<\/p>\n

If Rocket Lab is successful with reusing its boosters, \u201cI think we\u2019ll see a dramatic change in pricing again,\u201d Beck said.<\/p>\n

Email the author.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

File photo of an Electron rocket launching on a previous mission. Credit: Rocket Lab \/ Andrew Burns \/ Simon Moffatt On its next mission set for liftoff later this month, Rocket Lab will try to recover the first stage of its Electron small satellite launcher after parachuting into the Pacific Ocean downrange from the company\u2019s […]<\/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":[291,1608,1999,545,25,1593,1595,1596],"class_list":["post-12130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-commercial-space","tag-cubesats","tag-dragracer","tag-electron","tag-launch","tag-launch-complex-1","tag-mahia-peninsula","tag-new-zealand"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12130"}],"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=12130"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12130\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}