{"id":13120,"date":"2019-06-26T22:40:06","date_gmt":"2019-06-26T14:40:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/launch-timeline-for-rocket-labs-make-it-rain-mission\/"},"modified":"2019-06-26T22:40:06","modified_gmt":"2019-06-26T14:40:06","slug":"launch-timeline-for-rocket-labs-make-it-rain-mission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/launch-timeline-for-rocket-labs-make-it-rain-mission\/","title":{"rendered":"Launch timeline for Rocket Lab\u2019s \u201cMake it Rain\u201d mission"},"content":{"rendered":"

EDITOR\u2019S NOTE: Updated June 28 to reflect new target launch date.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rocket Lab\u2019s light-class Electron launcher is set to take off on its seventh flight from New Zealand, aiming for a 280-mile-high (450-kilometer) orbit with seven small satellites for commercial customers, the U.S. military and university students.<\/p>\n

The two-stage, 55-foot-tall (17-meter) rocket is scheduled for liftoff during a two-hour window opening at 12:30 a.m. EDT (0430 GMT) Saturday from Rocket Lab\u2019s commercial launch complex on Mahia Peninsula on New Zealand\u2019s North Island.<\/p>\n

The launch window opens at 4:30 p.m. local time in New Zealand, less than a half-hour before sunset.<\/p>\n

The privately-developed Electron launcher is making its seventh flight after its inaugural mission in May 2017 reached space, but faltered before reaching orbit, followed by six successful missions in a row that have deployed 28 satellites into low Earth orbit.<\/p>\n

Read our mission preview story for details on the launch, which was arranged by Rocket Lab with Spaceflight, a Seattle-based company that brokers rideshare launch opportunities for smallsats.<\/p>\n

Rocket Lab calls this mission \u201cMake it Rain,\u201d reflecting the wet climate at Spaceflight\u2019s Seattle headquarters.<\/p>\n

The timeline posted below is accompanied by animation provided by Rocket Lab that illustrates the approximate appearance of the major flight events.<\/p>\n

Data source: Rocket Lab<\/strong><\/p>\n

T-0:00:00: Liftoff<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"
The Electron rocket lifts off on the power of nine kerosene-fueled Rutherford main engines, generating 34,500 pounds of thrust at liftoff and powering up to 41,500 pounds of thrust as the rocket climbs into the upper atmosphere.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+0:01:20: Max-Q<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"
The Electron rocket experiences the most intense aerodynamic pressures at this phase of flight.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+0:02:34: MECO<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"
The nine first stage Rutherford main engines shut down after a two-and-a-half minute burn.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+0:02:40: First Stage Separation<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"
The Electron\u2019s first stage separates from its second stage.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+0:02:44: Second Stage Ignition<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"
The Electron\u2019s second stage Rutherford engine ignites to continue the trip into orbit, producing approximately 5,000 pounds of thrust in vacuum.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+0:03:05: Fairing Jettison<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"
The Electron rocket\u2019s payload fairing, which protected the satellites during the initial phase of ascent, jettisons once the rocket is above the dense, lower layers of the atmosphere. The composite 3.9-foot-diameter (1.2-meter) shroud will fall into the Pacific Ocean.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+0:08:55: SECO<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"
The second stage\u2019s Rutherford vacuum engine shuts down after reaching an elliptical parking orbit.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+0:08:59: Kick Stage Separation<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"
The Electron rocket\u2019s Curie kick stage separates from the second stage.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+0:50:27: Kick Stage Ignition<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"
The kick stage\u2019s Curie engine ignites for a 44-second burn to place the mission\u2019s seven satellite payloads into a circular 280-mile-high (450-kilometer) orbit with an inclination of 45 degrees. The Curie engine burns a proprietary non-toxic \u201cgreen\u201d propellant and produces about 27 pounds of thrust.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+0:51:11: Kick Stage Shutdown<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"
The kick stage\u2019s Curie engine shuts down after achieving the proper orbit.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T+0:53:26: Payload Separation Sequence Complete<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"
The seven spacecraft on-board the \u201cMake it Rain\u201d mission complete their separation sequence from the Curie kick stage. The satellites include the BlackSky Global 3 commercial Earth observation satellite, two Prometheus CubeSats for the U.S. military\u2019s Special Operations Command, two SpaceBEE data relay CubeSats from Swarm Technologies, and the ACRUX 1 CubeSat developed by the Melbourne Space Program, a non-profit educational organization affiliated with the University of Melbourne in Australia. The identity and owner of the seventh payload has not been disclosed by Rocket Lab.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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

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

EDITOR\u2019S NOTE: Updated June 28 to reflect new target launch date. Rocket Lab\u2019s light-class Electron launcher is set to take off on its seventh flight from New Zealand, aiming for a 280-mile-high (450-kilometer) orbit with seven small satellites for commercial customers, the U.S. military and university students. The two-stage, 55-foot-tall (17-meter) rocket is scheduled for liftoff […]<\/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":[2608,1812,2128,2609,291,1608,159,25],"class_list":["post-13120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-acrux-1","tag-australia","tag-blacksky-global","tag-blacksky-global-3","tag-commercial-space","tag-cubesats","tag-earth-observation","tag-launch"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13120"}],"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=13120"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13120\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}