{"id":14146,"date":"2017-12-07T22:15:57","date_gmt":"2017-12-07T14:15:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/rocket-lab-pushes-back-second-electron-launch-to-sunday\/"},"modified":"2017-12-07T22:15:57","modified_gmt":"2017-12-07T14:15:57","slug":"rocket-lab-pushes-back-second-electron-launch-to-sunday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/rocket-lab-pushes-back-second-electron-launch-to-sunday\/","title":{"rendered":"Rocket Lab pushes back second Electron launch to Sunday"},"content":{"rendered":"

EDITOR\u2019S NOTE: Updated Dec. 8 to reflect launch delay to Sunday, Dec. 10, U.S. time.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
Rocket Lab\u2019s second Electron rocket stands vertical at the company\u2019s New Zealand launch site during pre-flight testing. Credit: Rocket Lab<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rocket Lab plans to roll out the company\u2019s second light-class Electron rocket to its launch pad in New Zealand on Thursday for final countdown preparations, but officials have delayed liftoff to no earlier than Sunday night, U.S. time.<\/p>\n

The Electron booster, standing roughly 55 feet (17 meters) tall, could blast off from Rocket Lab\u2019s commercial launch pad as soon as 0130 GMT Monday (8:30 p.m. EST Sunday) at the opening of a four-hour launch window. The launch opportunity opens at 2:30 p.m. Monday in New Zealand.<\/p>\n

Rocket Lab says it has a wider window to launch the rocket, with four hours each day through Dec. 17.<\/p>\n

Liftoff with three commercial CubeSat payloads was planned as soon as Thursday night, U.S. time, but officials were concerned about high-altitude winds over the launch site, and ideal weather conditions are not expected until early next week.<\/p>\n

The company transported the Electron vehicle to its launch base last month, after completing full-up hotfire testing. The launch team rehearsed countdown procedures last week, and practiced loading kerosene and liquid oxygen propellants into the rocket.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did a hotfire campaign as a big preparatory test, so all that was done over a month ago,\u201d said Shaun O\u2019Donnell, Rocket Lab\u2019s vice president of global operations. \u201cThe wet dress rehearsal went really well. It went really smooth, especially for our first run at it, so we\u2019re really confident.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ground crews at the launch site on Mahia Peninsula, on the east coast of New Zealand\u2019s northern island, transferred the two-stage rocket from its assembly hangar to Launch Complex 1 overlooking the Pacific Ocean Thursday, U.S. time, according to Rocket Lab.<\/p>\n

The rocket was raised vertically on its launch mount, and Rocket Lab officials will continue to assess the launcher\u2019s readiness and weather conditions before proceeding with the countdown Sunday.<\/p>\n

The Electron rocket\u2019s second launch comes more than six months after Rocket Lab\u2019s first orbital launch attempt, which ended prematurely May 25 when a ground tracking computer feeding data to the range safety team stopped receiving signals from the launcher around four minutes after liftoff.<\/p>\n

The flight safety officer inside Rocket Lab\u2019s launch control center followed established procedures and sent the command to shut down the Electron\u2019s second stage engine after the data dropout.<\/p>\n

Investigators traced the mishap\u2019s cause to a software programming error in a tracking system provided by a third-party contractor, and Rocket Lab\u2019s own ground systems \u2014 operating in a shadow mode on the maiden flight \u2014 did not suffer the same problem.<\/p>\n

With a launch base, control center and factory in New Zealand, Rocket Lab also has a headquarters in Southern California, where it is outfitting a second rocket assembly plant. Eventually aiming to launch as often as once per week, the U.S.-New Zealand company operates under the regulatory umbrella of the FAA.<\/p>\n

The FAA announced earlier this week it issued a commercial launch license for the Electron rocket\u2019s second flight.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The second Electron rocket is pictured on its side at Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand. Credit: Rocket Lab<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The May 25 test flight, dubbed \u201cIt\u2019s a Test,\u201d demonstrated good performance of the Electron rocket\u2019s first stage, and the launcher\u2019s second stage engine ignited and payload fairing jettisoned as designed before the mission was terminated.<\/p>\n

The results raised hopes the second Electron launch, christened \u201cStill Testing\u201d by Rocket Lab, could successfully reach orbit. Engineers also minimized changes to the rocket, with the most significant upgrade in the second stage, which will debut stretched propellant tanks to accommodate more fuel, O\u2019Donnell told Spaceflight Now.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe performance we saw from the vehicle was really good,\u201d he said in a phone interview Tuesday from Rocket Lab\u2019s development facility in Auckland. \u201cIt was actually in the upper bounds of the performance we expected, so that was really positive.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe vehicle this time around is slightly longer,\u201d O\u2019Donnell said. \u201cThat\u2019s really just a tank stretch. It doesn\u2019t relate to any changes with the engines or other functional parts of the vehicle. From the good data that we got from that first launch, we\u2019re confident that the majority of those systems are fine, which was really reassuring.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the upcoming mission is still considered a demonstration, and Rocket Lab has a third Electron vehicle built that could launch in early 2018 on a third test flight \u2014 if necessary \u2014 before the company begins operational launches. Rocket Lab officials said commercial service could be accelerated to begin on the third Electron launch if the second flight goes well.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur weather limits are pretty generous for the vehicle,\u201d O\u2019Donnell said in an interview with Spaceflight Now. \u201cWe\u2019ve got pretty decent ground level winds.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of our biggest issues is triboelectrification in the high clouds,\u201d O\u2019Donnell said, referring to the potentially dangerous build-up of static electricity on the rocket as it soars through high-level clouds. \u201cIt\u2019s one of those things that could happen any time of year, and that can cause potential issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

A dedicated team will monitor real-time conditions during the countdown in case weather takes a negative turn.<\/p>\n

Refined kerosene fuel and liquid oxygen will be loaded into both stages of the Electron rocket in the final hours of the countdown, and a final automated launch sequence will commence at T-minus 2 minutes to oversee the last steps before liftoff<\/p>\n

The Electron\u2019s nine Rutherford main engines, mounted in a circular web-like configuration at the base of the first stage, will ignite at T-minus 2 seconds.<\/p>\n

\"\"
File photo of the Electron rocket\u2019s nine Rutherford first stage main engines on a previous vehicle. Credit: Rocket Lab<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Rutherford main engines, developed in-house by Rocket Lab, will generate around 34,500 pounds of thrust at liftoff and power up to 41,500 pounds of thrust as the rocket climbs into the upper atmosphere. The Rutherford engines use electric turbopumps, an innovation in the launch industry that first flew on the Electron rocket.<\/p>\n

The first stage engines are scheduled to shut down around two-and-a-half minutes into the flight, and the booster will release to fall into the Pacific Ocean four seconds later. Ignition of the second stage\u2019s single Rutherford engine is slated for T+plus 2 minutes, 36 seconds.<\/p>\n

Separation of the Electron\u2019s nose shroud, which covers the three shoebox-sized CubeSats riding on the launch, is planned at T+plus 3 minutes, 4 seconds.<\/p>\n

The second stage engine is programmed to fire more than five-and-a-half minutes until T+plus 8 minutes, 14 seconds. The second stage burn will be around 50 seconds longer than the firing planned on the Electron\u2019s first test launch, thanks to enlarged propellant tanks that extend about a half-meter (1.6 feet) longer than the tanks on the inaugural flight, O\u2019Donnell said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just gives us more payload, essentially, thanks to a longer burn time,\u201d O\u2019Donnell said of the bigger second stage.<\/p>\n

The three CubeSats \u2014 one from Planet and two from Spire Global \u2014 will release out of Rocket Lab\u2019s Maxwell deployers at T+plus 8 minutes, 31 seconds.<\/p>\n

Planet\u2019s CubeSat, named \u201cDove Pioneer,\u201d will join the company\u2019s fleet of Earth-imaging satellites. Spire\u2019s Lemur-2 CubeSats are used to track ship traffic and collect atmospheric measurements to aid weather forecasters.<\/p>\n

Rocket Lab says it charges $4.9 million per Electron flight, significantly less than any other launch provider flying today, and offer a dedicated ride for payloads that currently must ride piggyback with a larger payload.<\/p>\n

The company has a launch contract to place several CubeSats in orbit for NASA next year, along with future launch agreements with Planet, Moon Express and Spaceflight, which books launches of small satellites from various commercial and scientific customers.<\/p>\n

With money from venture capital funds in Silicon Valley and New Zealand, along with a strategic investment from Lockheed Martin, Rocket Lab completed the design and qualification of the Electron rocket with less than $100 million since the company was established in 2006, according to Peter Beck, the company\u2019s CEO and founder.<\/p>\n

Rocket Lab\u2019s progress was marked with test launches of more than 80 sounding rockets since the company\u2019s formation. If the second Electron mission reaches orbit, it will mark the first orbital launch from New Zealand.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019re looking for (on the second launch) is just to close off that final few minutes that we didn\u2019t see on the first flight, where we\u2019re getting into orbit, we\u2019re completing the burn of the second stage and we\u2019re releasing some payloads, which would really be the cherry on top,\u201d O\u2019Donnell said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is still a test,\u201d he said. \u201cWe had originally planned for three test flights, so we\u2019re fully prepared to run that third test as well if we don\u2019t get everything we need from this one.\u201d<\/p>\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 Dec. 8 to reflect launch delay to Sunday, Dec. 10, U.S. time. Rocket Lab\u2019s second Electron rocket stands vertical at the company\u2019s New Zealand launch site during pre-flight testing. Credit: Rocket Lab Rocket Lab plans to roll out the company\u2019s second light-class Electron rocket to its launch pad in New Zealand on […]<\/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":[291,1608,3061,159,545,1593,3062,1595],"class_list":["post-14146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-commercial-space","tag-cubesats","tag-dove-pioneer","tag-earth-observation","tag-electron","tag-launch-complex-1","tag-lemur-2","tag-mahia-peninsula"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14146"}],"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=14146"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14146\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}