{"id":13724,"date":"2018-06-27T23:52:48","date_gmt":"2018-06-27T15:52:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/rocket-labs-first-commercial-launch-scrubbed-again\/"},"modified":"2018-06-27T23:52:48","modified_gmt":"2018-06-27T15:52:48","slug":"rocket-labs-first-commercial-launch-scrubbed-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/rocket-labs-first-commercial-launch-scrubbed-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Rocket Lab\u2019s first commercial launch scrubbed again"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_33115\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-33115\" style=\"width: 678px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-33115\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/DgqW535U0AAW18R-678x381.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"678\" height=\"381\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/DgqW535U0AAW18R-678x381.jpg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/DgqW535U0AAW18R-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/DgqW535U0AAW18R-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/DgqW535U0AAW18R.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 678px) 100vw, 678px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-33115\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rocket Lab\u2019s Electron rocket on its launch pad in New Zealand. Credit: Rocket Lab<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The liftoff of a Rocket Lab Electron booster from New Zealand with five U.S.- and German-built nanosatellites was grounded Tuesday, U.S. time, after engineers identified a problem with a motor controller on the two-stage launcher.<\/p>\n<p>Rocket Lab officials did not immediately set a new target launch date, as engineers examine the motor controller issue, an apparent recurrence of a problem encountered during a countdown rehearsal in April, according to Peter Beck, the company\u2019s founder and CEO.<\/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=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1011789360323104768&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fspaceflightnow.com%2F2018%2F06%2F27%2Frocket-labs-first-commercial-launch-scrubbed-again%2F&amp;sessionId=ecaf3cbca03e7d325db064ae26cf72b96de81414&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&amp;width=550px\" data-tweet-id=\"1011789360323104768\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\" data-twitter-extracted-i1782699893879278207=\"true\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Looks like we did not totally resolve the controller from last attempt. Similar behaviour. https:\/\/t.co\/0P5Kxve16W<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Peter Beck (@Peter_J_Beck) June 27, 2018<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Beck said in an interview last week that during a wet dress rehearsal in April, Rocket Lab\u2019s launch team noticed \u201cunusual behavior\u201d in a DC motor controller driving turbopumps on the rocket\u2019s first stage.<\/p>\n<p>The Electron\u2019s Rutherford engines use electrically-powered turbopumps, not the gas-driven turbines used on other rockets. That makes the engines simpler and lighter, according to Rocket Lab.<\/p>\n<p>Engineers studying the motor behavior concluded it was \u201cnot a hardware issue,\u201d Beck told Spaceflight Now last week. \u201cIt was completely a process issue with production.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rocket Lab delayed the launch from April until June to investigate the motor controller problem.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe took our time to really drill down and make sure we fully understood the cause because from here on out, we\u2019re looking at a very high clip of manufacturing and launch for the rest of the year,\u201d Beck said. \u201cThe last thing we want to do is interrupt our manufacturing and launch flow with any kind of unresolved issue.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>By the end of the year, Rocket Lab aims to achieve a launch cadence of one flight per month.<\/p>\n<p>But the glitch observed during Tuesday\u2019s countdown (Wednesday in New Zealand) suggests Rocket Lab has more work to do on the motor controller.<\/p>\n<p>Rocket Lab\u2019s privately-developed, 55-foot-tall (17-meter) Electron rocket is sized to carry up to 330 pounds (150 kilograms) into a 310-mile-high (500-kilometer) orbit for less than $5 million. Headquartered in Huntington Beach, California, with a launch base on New Zealand\u2019s North Island, Rocket Lab aims to carve a niche in the launch market carrying lightweight CubeSats and microsatellites into orbit.<\/p>\n<p>After reaching orbit in January on its second test flight, Rocket Lab is proceeding into commercial operations with the third Electron launch, which is nicknamed \u201cIt\u2019s Business Time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A launch attempt on Friday, U.S. time, was scrubbed due to a problem with a downrange tracking station in the Chatham Islands. Rocket Lab bypassed launch opportunities over the following three days due to poor weather, then tried again Tuesday before engineers identified the motor controller issue.<\/p>\n<p>Rocket Lab has four-hour launch windows available each day through July 5, U.S. time (July 6 in New Zealand).<\/p>\n<p>Two of satellites stowed inside the nose of the Electron rocket are owned by Spire Global, a San Francisco-based company which builds and operates a fleet of CubeSats collecting weather data and tracking maritime traffic. Another California-based company, GeoOptics, is also launching a small satellite for its own commercial weather monitoring constellation.<\/p>\n<p>The Electron rocket will also launch a German-built craft to test an aerodynamic drag sail that could be used to de-orbit future satellites and help clear space junk out of orbit. A CubeSat named Irvine01 built by Southern California high school students is also set for liftoff on the Electron rocket.<\/p>\n<p><b><i>Email the author.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rocket Lab\u2019s Electron rocket on its launch pad in New Zealand. Credit: Rocket Lab The liftoff of a Rocket Lab Electron booster from New Zealand with five U.S.- and German-built nanosatellites was grounded Tuesday, U.S. time, after engineers identified a problem with a motor controller on the two-stage launcher. Rocket Lab officials did not immediately [&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":[2101,291,1608,159,545,2834,2835,2924],"class_list":["post-13724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-cicero","tag-commercial-space","tag-cubesats","tag-earth-observation","tag-electron","tag-geooptics","tag-high-performance-space-structure-systems","tag-irvine-cubesat-stem-program"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13724"}],"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=13724"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13724\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}